Wildflowers
by That Girl55
Summary: For all their werewolves and vampires, the Quileute tribe had never seen a witch before - much less had one of their own imprint on one.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - This is my first Twilight story, and I'm very excited to share it with you! Bear in mind I haven't read the book in about four years, so it's more likely to be based off the movie and my bad memory. Thanks for reading! xx.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs.**

 **Takes place during Eclipse, when Edward has returned and Bella is back with him, and Jacob is already an established werewolf. Will likely go AU from there.**

 **Ivy faceclaim: Young Elle Fanning**

 **Serena faceclaim: Shelley Hennig**

()()()

 _"Policy woman came rolling into town_

 _She got all the gentleman to follow her down."_

 _\- Medicine, Grace Potter_

()()()

We hadn't yet crossed the border into Washington when it started snowing.

The highway was shiny and slick in no time and I reached across the center console to grab Ivy's hand. There was already ice covering the road. It was everywhere and we were sliding within minutes.

I pulled the Wagoneer to a stop by the shoulder without once touching the steering wheel, then I put it into second gear and continued on slowly. December in California was nothing like this - I wasn't used to driving in snow, much less ice.

Still, Sam and Emily were expecting us in La Push tonight, and I wasn't about to make them wait.

It was kind enough of them to take us in, especially after what Mom did to Sam. I don't know specifics, but she had a huge fight with her brother when they were teens, and she took off and left La Push forever.

She died in our attic, back home in California. She's poisoned herself with white oleander - God knows where she got it - and left Ivy and me on our own.

I was seventeen and a half - too old to be adopted and too young to be left out of the system. Ivy was ten, and the social worker didn't hesitate to inform me that we would likely be split up. It was hard enough to find a home for one kid, much less two.

That's when Sam stepped in.

He was 7 years younger than my mother, the brother she'd drunkenly mumble about when she had nothing else to do. We'd never met him, we had no reason to trust him - except that he was the only person we'd had left.

He'd called our social worker as soon as he found out about us, asking about adoption. We didn't know why he'd wanted us so badly, only that he did. I figured it had something to do with the fight - maybe we were some kind of penance, some way of finding my mother's forgiveness.

Mom, although her death was a suicide, had left everything a mess. Bills were everywhere, unpaid, and she hadn't created a will. It didn't matter much - our only asset was the house - the gorgeous, huge Victorian we called home - and it wasn't paid off yet. It went to the state, as did the $5.06 left in her bank account.

She'd left unexpectedly, before Ivy had even come to terms with her powers, before I got to attend a senior prom or my first Samhain as a mature witch.

Tears pricked at my eyes as Ivy stirred in the seat beside me. I turned down the radio a notch, hoping she would fall back asleep. I didn't want to talk right now.

I drove in silence, waiting to see a sign for La Push.

()()()

It was midnight by the time we arrived, but Sam and Emily had been waiting up for us. A light burned in the front room of an earthy, wooden house in the middle of the forest. It was connected to the outdoors, seeming a part of it, and that was perfect for Ivy and I.

The couple came running out to the car when we pulled up, their faces flushed with worry.

"How was the drive? I didn't realize it would start to snow, I could've came to get you." Sam asked, his words heavy with worry. We'd talked on the phone only once or twice, but he was exactly as I'd pictured him.

He looked nothing like mom, that was for sure. She was a pale, frail blonde creature - Sam was dark, with heavy, masculine features. I was similar to him, in a way, as Ivy was similar to our mom. It was ironic because I'd always figured my looks came from the father I'd never met.

"It wasn't bad at all." I assured him with a smile. "Ivy's in the passenger seat, she's still asleep."

"I don't blame her, I bet you're exhausted." Sam motioned towards his wife. "Emily's made dinner if you're hungry, but I'm sure you'd like to get some sleep as well. I'll unpack, she'll show you to your room."

The house wasn't huge, not like the Victorian we'd grown up in back in California (although, in the end, that seemed to backfire). I had expected to have my own room, but I wasn't opposed to sharing with Ivy. It would help me keep a better eye on her, at least, and it wasn't like we had many secrets.

I allowed Sam to get our bags and opened Ivy's door. She'd inherited the skinny gene from our mother, and, at eleven, was still tiny. I picked her up easily, allowing her to sleep, and nodded towards Emily to show us to our room.

She smiled at us, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"It seems you two are very close. That's understandable, given everything you've been through."

I liked her, her bluntness and honesty. She told things the way they were.

We walked into the light and I saw the long, thin scars gracing her face. I tried not to gasp, but they seemed so wrong, so out of place. I wondered what someone like Emily had done to get those, if she'd done anything at all. I could see her aura, a brilliant yellow, and I could tell that she was a happy, bright person.

Our room was on the back end of the house, and, although adorned with two twin-sized beds and matching dressers, it wasn't intended to be a bedroom. Windows adorned every inch of the area, and there was a door in the middle of the room, leading to a deck.

"We had to convert the sunroom." Emily said, almost apologetically. "There wasn't a second bedroom, I'm sorry. Sam hung up curtains, though, so you can have your privacy."

I grabbed her arm.

"Please, don't be sorry. I love it, it's truly beautiful back here. I feel like I'm in the forest."

She patted my hand, crossing to the door.

"I'll let you girls get some sleep, we can talk in the morning."

I watched her walk off until her yellow shadow was out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2

"For all your lies, you're still very lovable."

-For Emma, Bon Iver

()()()

I woke up to Ivy jumping on the bed.

I groaned, rolling over and hiding my face in my pillow. She called my name and, finally, I turned to face her.

"It's so beautiful here, Rena!"

"Yes, it is." I rose from the bed, finding that Sam had left our bags by the door the night before. They were still in their boxes, and I was pleased to see he hadn't gone through anything.

I'd packed extra prayer candles and herbs, books and idols from the old house. I wasn't sure where I'd be able to find those things in La Push, much less if I would. Witchcraft had been a prominent subject in California - if you weren't one, you probably wanted to be one. Stores adorned every street that promised a psychic, or a real book of spells, or a conversation with an oracle. From the way Mom talked about this town, I was sure it wouldn't be the same.

"Did you do your morning meditations yet?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow. I knew what her answer would be.

"No," She rolled her eyes. "Can't I skip it, just this once?"

"Ivy," I chided her. "If you don't do your morning meditations, how will you know what your powers are? I found out during my morning meditations, Mom did as well."

"I have at least another year until I find out." She pouts, crossing her arms.

"It hits for most during puberty, Ivy, but not everyone. You never know, you could be an exception." I bopped her gently on the nose, smiling. "C'mon, we'll do them together."

"What about Uncle Sam and Aunt Emily?"

I paused for a moment. They hadn't invited us to call them Uncle and Aunt yet, even though that would be their technical titles. Ivy was already taking liberties, although I doubted they would mind.

"They're still asleep," I told her, taking her hand and leading her to the porch. "We'll do them out here this morning."

Ivy was right, it truly was beautiful outside. I reached back in and grabbed our comforters from the bed, wrapping them around her, and then me. We'd lived in California our whole lives, and neither of us had thought to bring coats.

There was fresh snow on the ground, a tiny, thin layer, and we sat surrounded by nature. As a hedge witch, and one who specialized in nature, I felt more alive than ever. I closed my eyes and reached towards Ivy, but found she was no longer beside me.

I spun around and found her in our bags, searching for a candle. When she'd finally found one, she sat beside me on the porch and placed it in front of the two of us. We crossed our legs and jointed hands.

"Ivy," I told her encouragingly. "Light the candle."

"You do it," She scoffed gently, making me laugh.

"You're the one who wants to come into her powers so badly, little witch."

She blushed, closing her eyes and trying to focus her energy.

I shut my own eyes, squeezing her hand and pushing her forward. The wick on the candle started to burn and, smelling smoke, I opened them.

The candle was lit, at least, but we were no longer alone. Standing in front of us, barefoot in the December snow, was a shirtless, tanned boy.

Ivy looked up at me and gasped, her eyes wide and clear. The flame burned in front of us, a barrier between the two worlds, as she reached for my hand.

I looked up at him, caught entirely off guard by the sight of his chest, and sputtered out my words.

"You can't tell."

He looked at me, staring, as if I'd offended him someone. After several seconds, he swallowed and spoke.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He smiled before scowling, become all business once again. "I need to see Sam, is he awake?"

"He is now," I rolled my eyes, gesturing towards the house. "Go right on in, I guess."

He nodded at me, walking past us as if on a mission.

"It was nice to meet you," He added as an afterthought.

"Her name's Serena!" Ivy called after him, her voice high with excitement.

He stared back at us for a second, giving us a little wave as he walked into the house.

"He didn't need to know our name, Ivy." I teased her.

"I like him. Besides, I only gave him your name. Anyways, I think he'll be around her for a little while longer."

"You think, or you know?" I prompted her, raising an eyebrow. "Do we have an augury witch in the family?"

"I think," She said with an exaggerated pout.

"Finish your meditation then," I smiled, rising from my spot on the floor and patting her leg gently. "I'm going to make us some breakfast."

()()()

A/N - For the sake of this story there are certain small things that each witch can do. For example, move objects by thinking about it, start fires, causing waves in a river, ect. As they get stronger, they harness their magic and this becomes easier for them. Most witches specialize in a power and they come into it around puberty.

Serena is a hedge witch, meaning her strengths are in nature and the wilderness, but she also excels in healing and easing pain.

Each witch can also cast spells and create potions, for example a love spell or a healing spell. These are at their best strength when cast by a mature and practiced witch or especially when they are part of that witch's strong suit.

I've done a good amount of research on modern witchcraft, paganism, and wicca and this is generally a mixture of all 3 beliefs that have been rearranged and created to best fit the story, I hope no one takes offense. Thank you for reading! Xx.


	3. Chapter 3

"I tell you everything

And I hope that you won't tell on me."

\- Softer, Softest, Hole

()()()

While Ivy sat outside finishing her meditation, I went in to listen.

Jacob had marched straight into Sam and Emily's room, not bothering with formalities, and I wondered just how close they were - especially considering he'd come to the back door.

I shook my head, rummaging through the cabinets for some pancake mix. I hoped Emily wouldn't mind - judging from her ingredients, she seemed to be a seasoned cook. This was further proved when I couldn't find any Shake 'N Pour in the house, and settled for making eggs instead.

I listened in as I turned on the stove. The words from Sam's room were not angry, but concerning, fervent.

A door slammed, and Sam marched out of his room, pulling on a shirt.

"I'm serious, they're back and they want to turn Bella."

"They wouldn't come back, Jacob." Sam shook his head. "They cut off all their ties to this place for months, why come back?"

Sam and Jacob stared each other down while Emily entered the room.

"Boys," She raised an eyebrow, gesturing towards me. "Let's take the _animal activity_ somewhere else, okay?"

With a grunt, they moved towards the door. The front door, I was relieved to find - the last thing I wanted was more people walking in on my sister trying to harness her magic.

Jacob stared at me again, though, and I looked down on myself. I hadn't showered in a couple of days because of the drive, and hadn't bothered changing last night or yet this morning - he probably thought I was a slob. Sam, however, seemed to think differently.

He looked between Jacob and I as his eyes grew dark.

"No," He muttered harshly, under his breath.

Emily turned to me, guiding me back towards the stove as the pan heated up.

"So, Serena, how'd you sleep?" She chattered, almost nervously.

Her aura was darker, more secretive - Sam's was black with anger - and Jacob's was pinkish-red.

He was in love with someone.

I felt my heart twinge with a little shoot of pain - all of that attractive, shirtless man and he was in love with someone already, I didn't stand a chance. It was probably the Bella girl he was talking to Sam about.

I turned back to the eggs, addressing Emily's change of topic.

"We both slept really well, Ivy's out back doing her morning meditation."

Sam perked up at that, turning his back to Jacob for a moment. Jacob welcomed the distraction.

"Morning meditation? Did you girls learn that from your mom?" I nodded. "Wow, she used to do that back when she was a teenager, before she left."

"We both love doing it, it reminds us that she's always with us." I smiled warmly, trying to show him the kindness in my eyes.

Sam was a kind man, I could tell, and I wasn't going to like keeping secrets from him and Emily - especially this one. But if Mom didn't like him, didn't tell him about us, then it had to have something to do with our abilities. Not everyone approved of witchcraft, not everyone knew it existed.

I had to keep myself and Ivy safe, and maybe keeping this a secret was the only way to do that.

Even now, there were just too many questions. Mom had left us with so much unanswered.

Sam turned back to Jacob, his rotten attitude fading, albeit slowly.

"You've got to show me what you mean, Jacob." He said fervently - it was obvious they were speaking generally, avoiding specifics.

Jacob nodded, hurrying towards the door. Still, he kept an eye on me.

"What was that all about?" I asked Emily, once the men had left.

"It's a long story, maybe you'll hear it later." She shrugged, motioning towards the oven. "Now, how about the eggs?"

I didn't prod anymore - they could have their secrets, I clearly had my own.

Emily and I finished up the eggs in silence, our minds occupied by other matters. When Ivy joined us, she didn't add to the conversation either.

Ivy seemed to perk up the second we were finished.

"There's boys here, a lot of them." Her brows furrowed, and I shot her a pained look.

She might be an augury, she might be coming into her powers, but by Gods she had no reason to let Emily suspect that.

Emily didn't seem to question it, though. A small smile graced her face and she looked towards the front door.

Seconds later, a group of six or seven shirtless, tanned boys came running in, covered with snow. They were of all ages, and all builds, but there was no denying how attractive all of them were. As it seemed, Jacob and Sam were leading the group.

It was like a calendar shoot was going on right in the kitchen, and even Ivy giggled a little.

"Aren't you cold?" Emily's brows furrowed.

"You know better than to ask that." Sam smiled, rolling his eyes as I reached to cover Ivy's.

She giggled, swatting my hand away, and I playfully told her she was too young.

Sam seemed to agree, nodding wholeheartedly, and motioned for the boys to go back to his room and find more sufficient clothes.

They agreed, walking past me with curious eyes. If this many boys were going to be here all the time I would have to invest in a better wardrobe.

"When you're done," Sam called out to them. "I'm calling a meeting in the backyard."

"A meeting?" Ivy asked me, her face knitting together in confusion. "Do they all work together or something?"

I shrugged my shoulders, but Sam and Emily laughed.

"Something like that, sweetheart." Emily giggled. Despite the scar, she was beautiful when she laughed.

"You three get dressed as well, you can borrow some of Emily's jackets for now, girls. I want you there too."

His gaze was colder than the snow outside, but Emily knew better than to question him. She took Ivy's hand, looking towards me, and guided us to a coat closet.


	4. Chapter 4

"We bear no fruit, no flowers, no life

And we get sick but we never die."

\- Iron Moon, Chelsea Wolfe

()()()

I could feel the buzzing of nature as we walked into the forest.

It was nearly ten in the morning in La Push, but the sun had yet to break through the clouds. I had a feeling I would lose my tan living here.

Ivy's little hand was buried in mine as she stood dwarfed in Emily's down jacket. It took everything I had to remember that she was 11, to remember that picking her up and rocking her in my arms would only embarrass her. She wanted to be a mature witch so badly, to harness her powers, that I didn't want to offend her by making her feel like a baby.

Still, this meeting made me nervous - the whole situation made me nervous. Sam and Emily had seemed beyond kind last night, and this morning, but holding a "meeting" of attractive, shirtless teenagers in the middle of the woods seemed a bit sketchy to me.

I had to fight the urge to run, and I still might've had there not been boys in front of and behind me.

"I can feel your nerves," Emily said gently, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Please, don't worry. Nothing's going to happy to you here, Sam will make sure of that."

I smiled at her, trying again to hide my uneasiness, but disguising my feelings was never easy for me.

We reached the meeting place rather easily - a clearing adorned with a few mossy, fallen logs - and the boys chose their seats. Emily guided us to a row in the back, and we were flanked on either side by boys. Jacob, I noticed, had chosen the seat beside me.

I swallowed hard, clutching tighter to Ivy's hand.

 _'You're hurting me.'_ She mouthed, and I tried to loosen my grip with little avail.

"Boys," Sam said, standing in front of the pack. "The Cullens have returned."

There was a collective group of groans, sighs, and one or two hoots from a few of the burlier ones.

"Now, we don't know what they want, we don't know why they're here, and we don't know their motives. For now, as a precaution, we abide by the treaty."

Chatter rose, uneasiness flooded the pack.

"We play defensively, we don't want to be the ones to break the treaty - no matter who, or what, is on the line." Sam looked pointedly at Jacob as he spoke, but Jacob seemed not to notice. "If they break the treaty, if they come onto our land, then we may attack."

I physically flinched at the word attack, causing Ivy and Jacob to look at me. Jacob's eyes were dark with thought and concern as he stared at me, seeming to size me up. I turned and looked at Ivy, at her tiny body and her pale skin, at her shivering between Emily and I.

She was my little sister, and I had to watch out for her, to protect her. I was beginning to think that, after only a few hours, coming to live with Sam and Emily was a bad idea.

"Wait," I said, fighting to push my voice out. "What do you mean, attack?"

This time, it was Sam's turn to blush. However, he didn't. He stood his ground, choosing again to address the pack instead of me.

"Boys, this is Ivy and Serena, my nieces. My sister, Alina Uley, passed away a few weeks ago, and they've come to live with me for the time being. Girls, what has your mother told you about the Quileute legends?"

Ivy's brows furrowed with confusion, but not mine. I remembered.

I remembered all of it - the wolves, the violence, the blood. I remember her telling me how important it was for me to know them, how she told me and only me the stories. I remember her telling me that they weren't stories, and I remember that I didn't believe her.

Alina Uley was an augury witch, she could foretell bits and pieces of the future, and, looking at Sam and Emily and these boys, I know why she chose to tell me the legends.

"Oh, Gods." I muttered, my face paling as I headed for the ground.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N - Thank you guys for all your kind words! I was a little nervous about the reception I'd get on this story, but you all have put that at ease. Also, my chapters are usually short but I try to post multiple at a time to make up for it. Thanks again:) xx.

()()()

"Oh tell me where your freedom lies

The streets are fields that never die

Deliver me from the reasons why

You'd rather cry, I'd rather fly"

\- The Crystal Ship, The Doors

()()()

I wake up to the slow and continuous movement of footfalls, to the rise and fall of someone's chest against my own.

I'm being carried by strong, firm arms - hands triple the size of my own, and they span the width of my back. Whoever he is, he's large, obscenely so. I'm not a tiny girl, I'm all curves and softness and an hourglass figure, but he's carrying me several feet off the ground with no problem.

Chatter rises around me, I hear Ivy's little voice asking if I'm alright, I hear Emily reassuring her. I believe it's likely to be Sam carrying me - he is my uncle, after all - but I don't remember Sam being so tall, so broad.

"Has she ever done anything like this before, Ivy?" Emily asks her, her voice thin and fake. She's trying to act like everything's okay.

"Never," Ivy mumbles, and I can imagine her tiny bottom lip is shaking.

She's right, I've never fainted before - but then again, I've never been presented with real-life werewolf protectors from the stories of my childhood, either.

My mother would tell me about my uncle only when she was blindly drunk - I never asked about him, but the conversation always swung back to there when she had a bottle in her hand. However, Mom told me about werewolves when she was sober. There was a reason behind everyone of her actions, especially due to her abilities as an augury, which could only mean one thing - her telling me about the importance of werewolves, about their existence and their abilities, was because she knew I would come to live in La Push.

Mom had seen visions of her own death - her suicide, no less.

I felt a chill come over me and goosebumps found their place on my skin, even on my neck and cheeks.

"She's cold," Emily added, nodding towards me.

I wanted so badly to be part of the conversation, to pop up and relieve everyone with my presence - but I couldn't get my eyes to open, I couldn't get my mouth to move. I was starting to think this whole thing was just one big dream.

Someone reached out and touched my cheek, their hands were warm and inviting. All too quickly, they were swatted away.

"She's mine."

I recognized the voice as Jacob's - realized that it was his arms I was in. It was his large chest I was being held against, secured by arms the size of small trees. I was taken back by his comment - it was territorial, and possessive, and a little obscene considering we'd met no more than five hours ago. But it didn't offend me like it should, it made me feel warm, it made me feel safe.

"Jacob," Sam started slowly, cautious but firm. "I respect you as her imprintee, but remember that she's my niece, and my responsibility, first."

My stomach started to churn at the word. An imprint was something my mother mentioned quite often - despite hating La Push, she thought the imprint culture was romantic. Despite all the morphing teenagers and the giant wolves, the imprint was the tall tale I believed the least of - how could you fall in love with someone at first sight? How could you look at someone and, just upon that once glance, know you want to spend the rest of your life with them?

Love at first sight didn't exist in 99% of the world, I didn't understand what made La Push so different. Hearing Jacob growl at Sam, hearing Sam's patient retort, I was beginning to feel the world spin.

I wanted nothing more than to pass out again and wake up in my own bed in California, but instead my body bolted forward without permission.

I jerked up, nearly smacking Jacob in the chin, and he tightened his grip around me as I started to roll off his lap. Jacob's brows furrowed, he didn't quite know what to make of me yet, and he let go once he saw I had my balance. I plopped myself down on the log, between him and Ivy as I had been before, and found the entire pack was staring at me, smirks plastered on their faces as they watched my graceful awakening.

Ivy started to giggle, breaking the silence, and she reached for my hand. Sam and Jacob looked on lovingly, and Emily gave me a look of concern.

"I'm alright," I said quietly, looking at her and smiling faintly. "I just...I need to talk to Sam, that's all."

"At your service," Sam smiled, reaching to take my hand. His eyes flew to Jacob for a second, making sure he knew I'd chosen him, but they looked at my own warmly.

This was my uncle Sam, the one Mom recalled as being bossy, demanding, but kind - really, really kind. I let him lead me back towards the house, Ivy and Emily at our heels, as the rest of the pack stayed in the forest.

I looked back at them, all heights and sizes, all versions of confusion on their face, as they watched Sam and I. It made me feel bad, I was taking the leader away from his pack - I understood that now, in more ways that I thought I did. They seemed a little lost without him.

I groaned, putting an arm on Sam and stopping him. Emily took one look at us and nodded, continuing to take Ivy back to the house.

"You're the alpha, aren't you?"

Sam's brows furrowed and I don't think he realized that I knew. Slowly, silently, he nodded.

"Close your meeting then." My words were biting, harsher than I intended, but they flew out like wildfire. I'd been here for a day, and I was already so much in the dark - even about the course of my own life. "When you come back, then we'll talk."

He nodded his thanks, returning to the group. I continued the short walk to the house alone.


	6. Chapter 6

"We'll feel distant embraces,

Scratching hands round my waist.

I wish my mouth could still taste you."

\- Numbers, Daughter

()()()

When I arrived at the house I retreated straight to my bedroom. I drew all the curtains and lit a candle - worshiping on the back porch would've been preferable, but the woods were that way and I didn't want to run the risk of Sam or the other boys seeing me.

I had never been more grateful for Emily than at that moment; she asked no questions, simply ushered Ivy into the kitchen and asked her to help with dinner for "Sam and all his friends."

I sat on the wooden floor, staring into the candle, trying to talk to my mom. Talking to the dead didn't always work, even for a hedgewitch. My mother could do it on command, so my only hope was that somewhere, somehow, she was trying to reach out to me as well.

Instead, I got nothing. I got a cold room illuminated by a black candle and the tiny bit of foggy daylight seeping through the curtains. I was a tiny girl wrapped in a blanket staring into the darkness.

"What am I even doing?" I asked, rising from my spot on the floor and moving to blow out the candle. But then I heard it.

Snow was crunching, someone with heavy footfalls was approaching. The feet were too big to be Sam's, and the sounds too light to be the entire pack. My mind flew back to the Cullens, the ones whose attack was imminent. I sucked in a breath, and I readied myself as they approached the door to the sunroom.

The door opened, then shut again, and I found myself ready to hurl fire at Jacob.

I groaned, closing my fists, shutting off my energy, and glaring at him.

"A little bit of warning might have helped." I rolled my eyes, sitting on the floor again. "what are you doing here?"

"I snuck away from the meeting," He smiled lightly. "I guess I wasn't as stealthy as I thought."

"That doesn't answer my question."

He sighed, leaning against one of the windows, watching me, studying me.

"What do you know about us, Serena?"

"My mother liked to tell stories," I smiled. "She'd always say they were true, and I'd call her out because a pack of adolescent boys who turned into werewolves to protect their families and the ones they loved seemed like such bullshit, you know? Anyways, I guess Mom's not as good of a storyteller as I thought she was."

He looked at me hesitantly, almost nervously, as he asked his next question.

"Have you seen us...change?"

"Like, change cloth...oh." I stifled a laugh at my own stupidity. "Well, no."

"Good," He nodded. "It's hard to watch, the first couple of times. Usually, if you get to see it, the wolf is either going to attack you, or...or you're his imprint."

My eyes cast to the floor. I wasn't even eighteen years old and I was likely to be married off to this Jacob guy. At least he can hold a conversation.

He looked almost disappointed to have imprinted on me, a complete stranger, and I felt nearly the same way about him. He was gorgeous, though; the type girls and women of all ages moon over and fantasize about. I wouldn't mind having that in my bed for a night or two, but I wasn't about to commit to Jacob forever.

I didn't even know his last name.

"What were you doing in here, anyway?" He asked, looking around at the dark room and the single candle on the floor in front of me.

"You saw Ivy this morning." I rolled my eyes. "What do you think?"

He nodded as if I'd taken all his words from him, and then he stared out the window again.

I slowly rose from my spot on the floor, trying to find my ground. I crossed to him, the urge to touch him, to be close to him, was suddenly too much. Of course, it didn't help that I had a wild imagination and we were standing in a darkened bedroom.

"Look, Jacob." I started slowly, backing away and sucking in a breath. Knowing he could 'change' and kill me whenever he wanted to wasn't helping much. "I know what an imprint is, Mom told me that much. But I...I don't know if I'm staying, Jacob. Mom didn't want Ivy and I to grow up here; I'll be eighteen in a couple of months and I'm not entirely sure I won't honor her wishes. If you want to give this a chance, we can. I'm not going to lie to you, Ivy is my responsibility and I'm not going to jump into anything with her on the line. All that stuff about the Cullens earlier, about attacking and treaties - I don't know if it's safe for Ivy and me. I haven't met or even sensed another witch since we got into Washington."

Jacob clenched his jaw and brought his hands to rest on my hips, pulling me close to him. His breathing was slow and patient, as if he was trying to calm himself down. He tilted my head up to look into his murky brown eyes and I saw that he was indeed trying to calm down.

"Serena, witch or no witch, you're my imprint. Nothing will happen to you while I'm around, I can promise you that."

Jacob laid his head above my own and I tried not to sigh out loud - it had been at least a month since I'd had human contact with anyone other than Ivy, and until now I hadn't realized that I missed it.

"But Ivy - "

"Same goes for her. My job is to protect you and the people you love, and that's what I'm vowing to do, right here and right now." He let out a little chuckle. "No witch hunts while I'm around."

With his abs and sizable arms, his sense of humor and dedication towards Ivy, Jacob was starting to win me over. Slowly, I could see his side of things. This wasn't an ideal situation for either one of us, but we were half underwater now and it was sink or swim.

"Alright," I nodded, pulling away from him. He looked a little lost when I did, and I tried to ignore the guilty feeling that flooded me. "Take me out on a date."

"Huh?" Jacob sputtered.

"A date! You boys may be wild, but you can't tell me you don't take your imprints on a date every once in a while."

"You're - you're okay with this?"

I bit my lip, twirling my dark hair.

"Honestly? The sensible part of me is sending red flags out everywhere, but I do want to give it a try." I nodded.

Jacob grinned so widely it nearly split his face in two. He even jumped a little with happiness. I couldn't blame him, though - Mom mentioned once or twice how it actually did 'pain' the wolves to be away from their imprints. I didn't want to cause Jacob any more pain than I already had.

Slowly, he began to frown.

"What's wrong?" I asked, my face creasing with confusion.

"It's Sam," He rolled his eyes. "He knows I'm gone and I'm going to get a serious ass whooping when I come back."

"Ah," I nodded, trying not to laugh. Sam may have been alpha, but Jacob had several inches and a few extra pounds on him. "Good luck talking your way out of this one. I'll see you soon, Jacob."

I opened the back door, ushering him out, but he turned to face me again.

"It's Black, by the way."

"Huh?"

"My last name is Black. That'll be your last name soon enough, too, I guess." He said cheekily, sending a wink my way before running into the woods to find the pack.


	7. Chapter 7

"Your hands can heal, your hands can bruise

I don't have a choice

But I'd still chose you."

\- Poison & Wine, The Civil Wars

()()()

I came out of my room right after Jacob left, not wanting to raise any suspicion. I opened my door to find Ivy seated right beside it, napping silently with her little ear pressed against the wall.

It wasn't like her to sleep so much.

I wasn't surprised when her brown eyes opened quickly, a tricky little smirk on her face.

"Boo!" She hollered, her little voice rich with joy and happiness. She hopped up into my arms.

"Oh, Gods, Ivy!" I groaned, leaning back a little with her weight. "You're too big to be carried around all the time."

She scrambled up to whisper into my ear.

"You weren't alone in there, Rena." She giggled. "Jacob was in there with you."

"You could hear all that?" I flushed, my cheeks turning red.

"Well, you weren't exactly quiet." Emily smiled, rounding the corner. "I won't say anything to Sam, don't worry. He and I were the same way when he first imprinted."

I nodded my thanks, placing Ivy on her feet and allowing Emily to lead me into the kitchen. I could smell all types of food, lasagne to steak, and I wondered how she was able to work a miracle like this when I couldn't even microwave soup correctly.

"I hear the boys coming!" Ivy shouted, and she hurried outside to meet them.

"Emily," I said quickly, chastely. "Ivy doesn't know and, please, I'd rather she didn't find out."

Emily nodded, patting my arm.

"Frankly, I think we were a little surprised you knew, Serena."

I bit my lip, trying to keep my voice down.

"Mom, she wasn't always the greatest. I mean, when I was little it was easy - she was always around, ready to take care of me, took lots of time off and spent lots of money on a good babysitter when she did go back to work. With Ivy, things got bad. She was always out of the house, some nights she wouldn't come home at all. I assumed she was working late at first, but I'm sure she was doing more than that." I shook my head, glancing at the door to make sure Ivy wasn't about to burst in. "After Ivy was born Mom went dark, and I just sort of...took over. I think that's why she's not more upset, she's closer to me than she was with Mom."

"I'm so sorry, Serena." Emily said, pulling me in for a hug. "You've done so good, you know that, right? You're raised her so well. I just wish Sam and I had known sooner. We would've been there for you, for both of you."

"I know," I smiled at her carefully. "I wanted to thank you for being here now."

I let go of her just as Sam came clattering in the door, the sound of ten or eleven large, bare feet came with him.

Emily rushed to greet Sam, and I studied the crowd for Ivy.

"Where's my sister?" My face furrowed, studying Sam.

"Jake stole her from you, too, Sam." One of the boys laughed, and I crossed my arms, waiting for Sam to react.

His face was easy to read - he was a little disappointed, but mostly amused.

I had more questions than answers by the time Jacob Black came strolling in, ducking through the doorway with ivy on his shoulders. \

"See, Rena!" Ivy called out to me. She was a short thing, but on Jacob's shoulders she nearly hit her head on the ceilings. "Jacob doesn't think I'm too big."

Emily and I laughed before she broke away from Sam, announcing that dinner was ready.

As the other boys piled into the kitchen, I crossed to Jacob, reaching my arms up to pull Ivy down. Jacob waved them away, reaching up and pulling Ivy down himself.

"You should give Rena a turn!" Ivy exclaimed, none too quietly, and from the kitchen you could hear Sam's shouts of protest.

"I'm too big, Ivy." I rolled my eyes at her, cuffing her shoulder gently.

"Go on, make yourself a plate before those animals eat it all." Jacob said, ushering her towards the kitchen. I stopped him a few steps from the doorway; Ivy continued by herself.

"Jacob," I whispered. "She doesn't know about you all, and I don't want her to. At least for now."

Jacob nodded, grabbing my hand and guiding me into the dining room, catching up with Ivy.

()()()

Dinner was uneventful, except for the couple of times Ivy got careless with her magic and, being as she chose to give Jacob the seat between us, I had to have him remind her that no one is supposed to know.

If anyone else at the table noticed the mashed potatoes sliding towards her at record speed, they didn't say anything.

At the end of the meal, most of the pack hung around watching ESPN and discussing Bella and the Cullens. I still didn't know who this Bella girl was, or what she wanted, but I had yet to find a comfortable time to talk to Sam about it.

Ivy's bedtime rolled around all too quickly and, for the first time in eleven years of her life, I allowed her to skip nighttime meditations. Mostly because she wanted Jacob there to tuck her in. Luckily, he seemed as enthralled with her as she was with him.

Jacob and I guided Ivy to our room, Jacob helping her into bed while I retrieved her comforter from where it had been discarded on the porch this morning. It was cold to the touch and I was anxious to drape it over her, she was already shivering through her long johns, and I moved to give her my comforter instead.

Jacob snatched it out of my hands, wrapping himself up in it and crawling into bed with Ivy.

"Come on, Rena!" Ivy called, reaching out her hands for me to crawl in as well. I did so delicately, hearing the twin bed creak with the added weight. I prayed it wouldn't buckle beneath us.

Jacob unwrapped himself from the comforter, draping it over all three of us. It was warm to the touch, as if it came out of the dryer. I gave him a curious look.

 _'Wolf thing,'_ He mouthed to me, grinning.

I shook my head, turning to my sister.

"Are you going to say the prayer tonight, Ivy?" I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Jacob looked at me, a little confused. I didn't bother to explain - just like this wolf stuff was new to me, the witch stuff was just as new to him. We'd figure it out together, if we figured it out at all.

"Do I have to?"

"I've already let you out of your midnight meditation, Ivy. At least do this for me."

"Fine, but you have to do it with me."

I nodded, and with a pout we began:

 _"Now I lay me down to rest_

 _I pray that all the world be blessed_

 _Lady Moon and Sister Star watch over me from afar_

 _Mother Earth is always there_

 _And keeps me safe within her care_

 _The Lord of Dreams will dance and sing_

 _And happy dreams to me will bring_

 _And when I wake to greet the day_

 _Brother Sun will light my way."_

I could tell Ivy was getting tired and I motioned for Jacob and I to get off of her bed. I kissed her on the forehead, allowing Jacob to help me up from my spot between her and the wall.

"That was beautiful," He said to me, whispering still.

I shrugged. To me it was nothing special, something Mom had taught me when I was growing up, something I had passed on to Ivy. It was something I hoped she would pass down the line one day, too.

"Thank you, by the way." I said, nodding towards Ivy. "Thanks for being so good to her. She's never had a man around, especially a nice one."

"I'm around for as long as you want me to be," He smiled, leading me back towards the kitchen. "Actually, I'm surprised Sam let us alone for so long. He's been thinking about us the whole time."

"Oh right, the telepathy thing." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "I wouldn't want to be the one in your head, Jacob Black."

"You're right, especially when you're around." He said, sticking out his tongue and wiggling it around, making me giggle.

"He's lying!" Another boy called from the living room. "His thoughts are like miracle whip - all fluff and no substance."

"Shut up, Paul!" Jacob said, but he was blushing.

"Boys!" Sam boomed. Although he was far from yelling, his voice had a weight to it. "I think it's best you head home for the night, unless you're on patrols. We've got a sleeping kid in the house now, so if you want to stick around you'd better keep it down out here. Anything animal, take it outside."

His pack nodded at him, listening and understanding. From what I could see, Jacob was the only one who dared to challenge Sam or disobey his orders.

Jacob leaned down, kissing me lightly on the forehead.

"I've got first shift," I nodded at him as he hurried out the door, flanked by two other boys.

"As for you," Sam said, coming to stand by me, his voice softening. "You and I need to talk."

()()()

A/N - Thank you guys for reading! The Pagan prayer in here is not mine and I take no credit for it, I got it from nuannaarpoq's wordpress blog. xx.


	8. Chapter 8

"It talks in tongues and quiet sighs,

And prayers and proclamations

In the grand days of great men and the smallest of gestures

And short shallow gasps."

\- All This and Heaven Too, Florence + The Machine

()()()

The boys left the room quickly after that, looking around at each other, a few of them sniggering lightly. I was about to get _roasted_ , they knew that much.

Only one of them - I think his name was Seth - gave me a sympathetic look before exiting the room. He was the last one out.

Sam gestured towards the living room couches and Emily came to perch beside him, ready to mediate between us. He looked at me with dark eyes - disgruntled, but not yet accusing - and motioned for me to begin.

"What do you want to know first?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing my legs.

"What do you know about us, Serena?"

"Everything," I said teasingly, a glimmer in my eyes. Sam started to smile too, but restrained himself quickly.

"I want specifics." He shook his head.

"Mom told me all about it when I was younger - about you shapeshifting, about protecting the town from danger, even about imprinting. She acted like they were bedtime stories but she swore to me they were true, and for the longest time I didn't believe her. I hadn't thought about those stories since Ivy was born, not until today." I bit my lip. "She told me, but she didn't tell Ivy. She didn't tell Ivy anything. She named her and then she passed her off."

I left out the part about the powers, still unsure as to how Sam would react. The last thing I wanted was for him and Emily to kick us out, especially when Ivy was so excited about this place.

"Why'd she tell you, and not your sister?"

"Sam," Emily warned, knowing this was a bit of a sore subject for me.

"It's okay, Mom's his sister, too." I sighed. "For me, Mom was the best parent she could be. By the time she had Ivy, she was a little sick of it all. She was almost never around for her, never home. I took care of Ivy the best I could."

"You were what, six when Ivy was born? How could you have possibly...?"

"It's not like I didn't have help - her dad, Kurt, was around a lot when she was a baby. Mom didn't know about it, but he would come around when she was out and check on her, on us. He was a really nice guy - probably the last nice guy she brought home. He was killed by a drunk driver when I was Ivy's age. She doesn't remember him." I sighed. "Look, I'm not sure you want to hear all of this about Mom. I mean, she was your sister, I don't want to tarnish whatever image you have of her."

Emily smiled at me, reaching over and patting my leg. Sam, however, didn't seem bothered.

"It's alright, Serena." He smiled. "I remember Alina that way - she had her ups and her downs. She'd have these great, amazing years followed by months of sadness and depression. I was so young, though - I always figured I just imagined things being that way. I was only twelve when she left, you know? She was nineteen and so omniscient, so headstrong. I always wondered if maybe there was too much going on inside her head, to the point where she couldn't take it anymore."

I bit my lip, grateful that Sam had seen what I had - at least parts of it. He had described her so brilliantly, so eloquently, that it nearly made me cry.

And then I remembered what she did - abandoned us even before she killed herself - and my tears dried again. I hadn't cried for her yet, I certainly wouldn't do it now.

I gave Sam a moment to collect himself as well, then turned to ask him a question.

"I want to know who the Cullens are, and why they would plan on attacking, before I decide whether or not this is a safe place for my sister to be."

Fear appeared in his eyes, and in Emily's, and I fought the urge to comfort them. I had to know their honest answers before I decided to keep her here.

Sam sucked in a breath, a long one, and Emily took the chance to speak.

"Please, Serena. You and your sister are safe and welcome here - La Push is sacred ground, and not only does a treaty protect us, but the pack does as well. Sam and his boys will do everything in their power to ensure that no harm ever comes to you and Ivy." Emily smiled, reaching over to take my hand. "That's what Jacob and the others are doing tonight, Serena. They patrol the area, keeping it safe from threats, as they do every night."

"You can trust Jacob to keep you and Ivy safe," Sam added.

"You can trust every single one of those boys," Emily said pointedly, looking towards Sam as he nodded. Without missing a beat, she smiled at me. "But, you can trust Jacob especially."

"This doesn't answer my question." I sighed, looking at my feet and hoping I wouldn't offend them. It was only my second night here, after all.

"The Cullens are vampires." Sam sighed, anxious to be discussing this.

"And you allow them to live here?"

I avoided slapping my hand to my forehead - this had to be the reason Mom didn't want us in La Push. Just as vampires and shape shifters were natural enemies, so were vampires and witches. Vampires were proud creatures, ones who believed they were above humans - they didn't like that we had power over them, could cast a spell upon them just as we would any other human.

As far as I knew, a witch's powers were good on any kind of being - supernatural or otherwise.

"Let me finish." Sam rolled his eyes. "They don't live in La Push, they're in Forks, which isn't part of the reservation. They're self-proclaimed vegetarians, meaning they feed on animals, not humans. We have an ancient treaty with them, put in place decades ago. They do not come onto our land, they do not feed on our land, and, if they kill a human, the treaty is broken and we may attack."

"And Bella?"

"Bella is a human. She's fallen in love with one of the Cullens, Edward, and is likely to be made a vampire." Sam watched as I visibly cringed, imagining the pain that would come with a transformation such as that. "The Cullens realize that, if she is to be transformed, the treaty will be broken. Because of that we are always anticipating a possible attack from them - rather be safe than sorry."

I nodded quietly, choosing my next words carefully.

"And what does Jacob have to do with all this?"

"Earlier this year, Edward and the Cullens left Forks, and left Bella. She was torn up and, as it seems, Jacob and Bella had been friends since they were kids. The two grew closer again." Sam bit his lip. "Jacob had feelings for her. Nothing as strong as imprinting, I can tell you that, but he wanted to be with her."

I clenched my fists, annoyed and hurt, while Emily came to my side. I nodded at Sam to continue as I tried not to conjure up a windstorm to drag Jacob away from here, away from me.

"But Bella chose Edward. She went to save him from suicide at the hands of the Volturi - an ancient vampire court - and they gave the Cullens an ultimatum. They want her turned, soon. Bella, she's willing to do it; she wants to do it, Serena."

"So, it's a waiting game." I sighed, leaning against Emily, shutting my eyes. "I can't believe Jacob loved her."

"No," Sam said, shaking his head. "I've been inside his head, Serena. He never loved her - he only thought he did. Until he met you, Jacob didn't know what love was."

"I don't love Jacob," I said, trying to brush it off, to rationalize my feelings. "I've only known him today. You don't fall in love with someone on first sight."

"Normal people don't," Emily nodded, backing me up. "But Quileutes aren't exactly normal people, Serena."

"Believe me," I groaned. "I know."

"But Serena," Sam said, his brows furrowing. "Jacob walked out of that room like he'd just won the lottery. If you turned him down..."

"I didn't turn him down, per say." I blushed lightly. If an imprintee turns down the imprinter, the imprinter can feel physical pain - same goes if the imprinter tries to turn away from his imprint. Spending too much time away from the imprintee can also cause this feeling. Basically, Jacob got the bad end of the stick. "I know how the imprint works, and I don't have any reason to cause Jacob pain, just yet. I told him he could take me out on a date."

"A date?" Sam sputtered.

"Why does everyone act like that's such a big deal?"

"Oh, honey," Emily laughed. "When Sam told me he was hopelessly in love with me, and only me, I nearly jumped into his arms then and there. As far as I know the same thing happened with the other imprints. You're the first I've known to turn down a tall, broad, shirtless Quileute boy."

From the other couch, Sam growled.

"I think it's good." Sam nodded. "It'll teach Jacob Black some respect, some discipline. Lord knows that boy needs it."


	9. Chapter 9

_"I carry band aids on me now_

 _For when your soft hands hit the jagged ground."_

 _\- Training Wheels, Melanie Martinez_

()()()

I woke up the next morning and found myself alone.

From the kitchen I could hear Ivy giggling, but I could sense that Emily and Sam were not in the house. It was a Monday, and they had probably gone to work.

Another voice was with her's, and my heart fell. I scrambled out of bed, my sheets catching up on my ankles, and ran towards the kitchen.

I nearly slammed into a wall and looked up to find that wall was Jacob.

"Ivy," I mumbled, rubbing my nose tenderly and shuffling to see around his broad chest.

"Relax, she's fine." Jacob said, reaching out to pull my hand away from my nose. "Let me see, Serena."

"It's fine, I'll get it later." I waved him off, hurrying into the kitchen to see my sister.

She was sitting at the table, reading the comics and slurping down a bowl of Captain Crunch. I sighed in relief.

"It's just me here, I didn't mean to scare you." He said, watching carefully from his place in the doorway. "Can we see about your nose, now?"

"Yeah, I think it's broken." I scoffed, poking it tenderly. "Does it look broken?"

"Ah, well..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'm taking that as a yes."

I spun on my heel, turning my back to Ivy. I didn't know how bad I looked, but there was most likely blood - I didn't want to scare her.

"Ivy love, I'm going to be in the bathroom, alright? Finish your cereal and hang out with Jacob some." I smiled, heading quickly towards the hall bathroom. Luckily, Ivy didn't ask any questions.

I was grateful because it was worse than I thought - blood was dripping onto my tank top and I quickly moved to gather toilet paper and hold it under my chin, blocking any more spillage. For now, I took off the tank and rummaged through the cabinets for witchhazel.

I dabbed it onto a cloth and held it against my nose, hoping to clean it before I popped it back into place. Silently, I cursed Jacob - I was so not looking forward to this.

As if I'd called him, he appeared in the bathroom in front of me, shutting the door quickly behind him.

I went to reach for my shirt, but Jacob seemed not to register that I was in only a bra. His dark eyes were full of concern, even a little regret. He looked towards the bottle on the counter.

"Witchy stuff?" He asked, a teasing smile on his face.

"No," I scoffed. "CVS stuff."

Gentler than before, he took another look at my nose.

"You really should go to a doctor."

"I've seen it for myself, Jacob, I know exactly how bad it is. I'll be fine. Where's my sister?"

"In front of the TV watching Full House reruns." He shrugged. "I took away the remote so she can't change it to porn or anything."

"Jacob, she's eleven." I rolled my eyes, hopping up from my spot on the counter to look in the mirror once more. I flushed my bloody strips of toilet paper and bit my lip, preparing to realign my nose.

"You really shouldn't do this yourself."

"I know how to," I rolled my eyes. "Mom liked to drink, she'd fallen down the stairs once or twice and hadn't quite made it out unscathed. Besides, all I have to do is pop it back over."

"I'm not sure it's that easy - "

Jacob's retort was cut off by a groan on my part. God, this was much more painful than I remembered it being - probably because the last time I'd done it, I hadn't been doing it on myself.

"Really, the hospital's not far." Jacob said, cringing himself.

"Can you feel it?" I asked suddenly, my eyes wide with curiosity.

"What the hell do you mean?"

"You know, my nose. Can you feel it because of the imprint?"

"Kind of," He nodded. "I notice it a little more now, probably because I'm thinking about it though. It's dull."

"Does that mean the imprint is dull or...?"

"No, the imprint is very, very strong. You don't have to worry about that, Serena." He smiled cheekily. "I think, I think it's because I'm with you. It's supposed to let me know that you're in danger or pain, and that I should be with you. Because I'm already with you, already trying to convince you to go to the hospital, it's not causing me serious pain."

"Alright," I nodded. "Go home and I'll try to reset it, and then call and let me know how you feel."

"Like hell I'm leaving you, Serena."

"Oh, so _that's_ how the imprint works." I teased him, grabbing his hands. "Well, do you want to crack it back in for me then. You were the one who broke it."

"Believe me, I already feel bad enough about that." He shook his head. "Look, I really think you need to see a doctor."

"Doctors cost money, and health insurance, and it takes gas to get there - all things I don't have right now. I'll just do this myself, thanks for the offer."

"Look, isn't there at least a spell or something to - "

"Nope," I said quickly, facing into the mirror and willing myself to just do it.

With a singular, rather loud scream my nose was back to it's original position.

"Ha!" I smiled, grabbing another strip of toilet paper and dabbing it with witchhazel. I pressed it against my nose and stared Jacob down. It hurt like a bitch, but I wasn't about to let him know that. "All done."

"Thank God," Jacob groaned, putting an arm around me. "Now, let's go see if your screaming brought the entire pack over."

"Nah, they probably figured we were fucking." I smirked, rounding the corner and walking back towards my room as his face turned the slightest shade of pink. "Keep an eye on my sister, Black. I'm trusting you."

Inside my room, I thought over what had gone on between Jacob and I: a little bit of banter, flirting even. He made me comfortable, and he was easy to talk to - both good qualities.

I rifled through my bag, the one full of necessities, and pulled out the few herbs and plants I'd brought with me. I could make a pain relief tea - which might not do much, but maybe it would get Jacob off my case. There was no way I could afford to go to a doctor right now.

I had enough herbs to get me through until the ground thawed, but once spring came I would need to start a garden. As a hedgewitch, my garden was of upmost importance to me - a lot of my power came from the herbs and medicines that would grow from there.

Using my mind, I dragged a cup of water from the kitchen too my room, and started to make it boil. I added the necessary items, rosemary and honey, and mixed it together. I added some peppermint, hoping that would open up my senses some more, and practically forced myself to drink it. For a witch, I didn't like tea much - I was more of a coffee girl.

But, I told myself, I could make a pot as soon as I was finished this.

There was a knock on my door as I swallowed the last of it, already feeling the tiniest bit better, and Jacob's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Serena!" He called. "Ivy wants you."

"I'm coming!" I said, pulling on a pair of jeans, a fresh tank, and a thick wool sweater before leaving the room. "Where is she? Is she alright?"

"Of course," Jacob rolled his eyes incredulously. "Serena, you know what I said was true, right? I'll protect you, and I'll protect Ivy. You worry too much about her."

"I've worried about her my whole life." I smiled at him, moving quickly towards the living room. "Ivy, my love, have you done your morning meditations?"


	10. Chapter 10

Serena's dress for the date is on nastygal and its' called **cities in dust velvet lace up dress - black**. If you google the name of the dress it should also come up.

Also, I apologize for such a short chapter, but I wanted to do the date in a separate chapter. Thanks for reading! xx.

()()()

 _"half-closed eyes and shoes untied_

 _Know I'll be falling asleep in my Levis tonight."_

 _\- Tilt You Back, Halsey (unreleased)_

()()()

Jacob waited patiently, impressively so, until after morning meditations.

"Don't you have school to go to, Jacob Black?" I asked him afterwards.

"I'm on sabbatical," He scoffed, crossing his arms. "What about you two, has Emily talked about school yet?"

"I'm done, got my GED a few weeks before Mom passed. What I need to do is go job hunting, but I haven't gotten around to that yet." I shrugged.

Jacob scoffed, and I had a feeling he hadn't actually wanted me to answer. Either way, I was grateful for the reminder - I did need to get Ivy enrolled sometime this week.

Ivy didn't question Jacob's presence, only skipped back off to the living room, presumably to watch more TV. Back in California, the cable bill hadn't been paid and our TV had been shut off - it was a luxury Ivy wasn't used to, but I was sure she'd enjoy it here. It'd probably be a chore to tear her away from it.

"Somehow, Jacob, I don't get the feeling you're here to interrogate me about my high school education."

"You're right," He smiled, crossing to me, pinning me between him and the wall. We both looked surprised when I let him. "I came to ask you on a date."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, a real one. I'm going to pick you up at seven, take you to a fancy restaurant, and pay for everything."

"Sounds like fun," I nodded.

"Is that a yes?"

"Sure, but I'm only going for the free food." I giggled, pushing myself out of his embrace. "Now get out of my house, Jacob, I've got some job hunting to do."

With a whoop, he ran through my bedroom and out the back door. I watched, carefully, as he transformed into a wolf - my wolf - a beautiful, russet colored one.

I was beginning to wonder if he'd pick me up tonight in a car or in wolf-form, and I began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Ivy called from the living room.

"Oh, nothing." I shook my head. "Let's get dressed, Ivy, and see what Washington has to offer."

()()()

Both answers were wrong - Jacob picked me up on a motorcycle.

"Oh my god," I laughed, a little too excitedly.

I'd always been a motorcycle girl - my last boyfriend had a Yamaha, and I was convinced I drove it better than him.

Sam groaned from his spot behind the door, none too excited at seeing his recently aquired niece jet off with a shapeshifter on the back of a motorcycle. Still, like a gentleman, Jacob walked to the door to great his alpha.

"Jake," Sam smiled, though none too warmly. "That thing doesn't look like it'll make it to Port Angeles. Why don't you take my Ford for the night?"

The keys to the 2014 F150 were dangling in front of Jacob's face, and I knew he wanted to take it, but it was I who swatted them away.

"No way, I'm riding on the bike." I grinned sickly at Sam. "Besides, weren't you the one who said I could trust Jacob?"

"That's true, Sam." Jacob smiled, taking me by the arm. "I'll have her home before midnight."

Emily and Sam waved as we walked down the drive, and I heard Emily whisper to her fiancee, "we'll be lucky if we get her back before dawn."

Once Jacob started looking at me, he couldn't stop. It was like magnets were pulling him right towards me, and he couldn't help but grin.

"Do all witches wear so much black?" He smiled, raising a hand to help me onto his bike.

"Not all of them pull it off as well as I do," I smiled, giving him a good look at my black fingernails as I mounted the bike on my own.

Jacob climbed on in front of me and I wrapped myself tight around him, leaning up to whisper in his ear.

"You've been staring an awful lot, Jacob Black."

"It's because you're mine," He smiled. "Jesus, I can't believe you're mine."

"For the night," I reminded him as he started down the street. "Just for the night."

I couldn't fight it though - how could I when I liked him too? I wanted to believe that he was strong enough to protect me and Ivy from a pack of hungry, angry vampires, but how could I know? If he got hurt fighting them for something I had started, I would never forgive myself. On top of that, Ivy was my responsibility, not his. I couldn't ask him to take on an eleven year old when he was barely seventeen.

Jacob could feel how tense I was, and he reached back and patted my leg gently. I tried to shake off my emotions and have fun.

"So, no helmets?" I asked as we came to a stop sign. "I don't think Sam would approve."

"Sam knows I'll keep you safe." He said firmly, returning his hand to the handlebar.

My leg had never before felt so bare.


	11. Chapter 11

"Our dark girls

Are setting fire to our suns."

\- Helelyos, Sexwitch

()()()

The rest of the ride was quiet and peaceful, scenery blowing by us as I held on tight to Jacob. He'd put on cologne for the date, a stark, artificial one that I would love on anyone except for him. Jacob reminded me of a forest after a storm, not the men's department of JCPenny.

Glancing down at him, I noticed that he hadn't dressed up for this near as much as I had. He was in jeans and a tight fitting, thermal shirt with a duck jacket thrown overtop. For Jacob, at least, this was a lot of clothes.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, leaning in close as we edged towards another stoplight.

He'd taken the back roads, as Sam had mentioned, and we found ourselves in the suburbs surrounding Port Angeles.

"To an Italian place," he said, his booming voice straining to be heard over the motor. "It came highly recommended by a friend."

The way his voice sounded, I knew it could only be Bella.

I reminded myself what Sam said, about how Jacob's feelings towards her were nothing compared to what he felt for me. I tried to ignore the fire that burned at the back of my throat, the urge to say something I would regret, to cast a spell, to do anything at all in retaliation.

Before I realized I had nothing to retaliate against, a streetlight across from us popped, and went dark. Luckily, Jacob didn't connect it to me, and we continued on in silence. If he could feel my anger, which was unlikely, he said nothing.

We pulled up to the restaurant soon afterwards, Jake parking the bike in a spot directly in front of the little mom and pop place. Despite my dislike of most Italian food, I was more than willing to give this place a try.

"I feel a little overdressed," I admitted, blushing as I looked down at my velvet ensemble. There would probably be families here willing to burn me at stake for little more than the fact that I showed too much leg.

"You look amazing," Jacob said, wrapping an arm around me possessively.

I was never too fond of that, of men acting like I was property, like I was something that belonged to them - but with Jacob, it was different. He meant no disrespect, didn't do it to demean me or to ward off other men. The way Jacob placed his hand on my lower back was less of a warning and more of a pledge: he was ready and willing to do my bidding.

"If you don't like it, though," He added. "We can go someplace nicer."

"I'll like it." I nodded, smiling briefly.

I didn't like, though. Pasta was never my friend and their pizza had too much grease, so I found myself munching on a loaf of free bread while Jacob ordered entree after entree, waiting patiently for me to find something I liked on the menu. I distracted him with conversation, bringing up anything under the sun - movies to music to cars.

I learned he loved action flicks and a good fight, he drove an ancient Rabbit when he wasn't on his bike and had a similar affection for my hand-me-down Wagoneer. He learned I'd watch just about any movie as long as it wasn't about witches, because they were always flawed, and I loved heavy metal music. I told him my favorite band was Sexwitch, only half-joking.

It took Jacob a full hour to realize that I wasn't going to order a dish, and he sat back, feeling like a fool, and asked for the check.

He didn't scold me on the way out, though, only guided me to the bike. He had a serious look on his face and he kept his hands to himself way more than I would've liked him to - I was beginning to worry that I had upset him. Before we headed off, I leaned forward to pepper the half of his neck I could reach with kisses. He responded how I imagined he would, leaning back, allowing me access to his lips.

Then my stomach growled, and he became stoic once more, starting up the bike.

We didn't return home the way we came, though, and he stopped about twenty minutes later in a little town further from Port Angeles. The sign a few miles back had read 'Sequim.'

He cut the engine, turning to look at me, a smile on his face as he nodded towards an IHOP on the corner.

"How did you...?"

"I remember hearing about your love for good breakfast food," He smiled. "I only wish you would've told me you didn't like Italian."

"It took you a little longer than it should've to figure that one out," I laughed, leaning up to kiss him. "I really thought you were mad at me."

He shook his head, leaning forwards to kiss me gently on the lips.

"Never," He whispered before taking my hand and guiding me into the diner.

 _This_ was the type of guy I needed in my life.

I was surprised when Jacob got an order of steak and eggs to go with my pecan pancakes.

"Jesus, Jake," I rolled my eyes. "Please, don't make me roll you home. You had about five starters at that italian place."

"Increased appetite," He shrugged, smiling and mouthing _'wolf thing.'_

I nodded at him, my eyes lighting up as I saw the waitress returning with my waffle.

"So," Jacob continued. "Popping the streetlamp on the way over here, was that a witch thing?"

"Not so loud," I scolded him lightly.

"Serena, we're at IHOP in the middle of the night, nobody's here to listen in."

"Still, Jake. I don't know what people are going to think of me here - I have to be careful."

"Remember what I said?" He raised an eyebrow in question.

"That you'll keep me safe, that you'll keep Ivy safe, I remember. But, I don't want you to have to." I smiled at him. "And, for the record, that wasn't me. Sometimes light bulbs go out on their own."

"Sure they do, Serena." He rolled his eyes, polishing off his steak and starting on the eggs.

"Ah, guess what I did today?" I said quickly, changing the subject.

"Raised a demon?" I kicked him in the shin, hard, but it didn't seem to hurt him. If anything, my foot was a little sore. He feigned pain, for a moment, to entertain me. "I was kidding! What did you do today, Serena?"

"I got a job!" I said, grinning happily.

"Very nice," Jacob nodded, raising his glass as if toasting me.

"Don't get too excited now," I teased him. "I'm only a subsitute secretary for the Quileute Tribal School. It's nothing too glamorous, Emily helped get me in when we went today to enroll Ivy."

Jacob stared for a moment, and from the look on his face I could tell he was happy for one reason - having a job would keep me in La Push.

"Maybe I should go back to school," He grinned cheekily. "I'd definitely have the hots for my teacher."

"I'd just be your secretary," I rolled my eyes, leaning back. "You'd be what, twelfth grade now?"

"Barely," He scoffed. "I'm still sixteen."

"Seriously?" I said, nearly choking on my water. "You look like you could be buying me beer, Mr. Black. Is that another wolf thing?"

"You bet," He said. "Just think, in a couple of months _I'll_ be jailbait. Isn't that kind of hot?"

"It would be," I nodded, looking him up and down from his ancient eyes to his tree trunk legs. "If it wasn't so unrealistic sounding."

He chuckled, crossing his arms as I slurped down the last of my coffee.

"What time is it?" I asked, pulling out my wallet to pay the waitress. Jacob reached out a hand to stop me. "What? You paid for the Italian place, I'll get this one."

Reluctantly, he let me place a ten dollar bill on the table.

"Sam would kill me if he knew I let you do that," Jacob scoffed. "It's eleven-thirty."

"Sam will kill you if you don't get me home in half an hour."

"We're two hours away," Jacob groaned.

"Do you want to explain that in person, or using wolf telepathy?" The waitress gave me a strange look, but I waved her off.

No one knew us here, we were in no danger.

Jacob started to answer, but my phone began to ring.


	12. Chapter 12

"I know it's me that's supposed to love you

And when I'm home you know I've got you

But is there somebody who can watch you?"

\- Is There Somebody who can Watch you, The 1975

()()()

"Where are you, Serena?" Sam's voice was rough, urgent.

"In...Sequim. Why?" I asked, trying, and not without difficulty, to sound out the name of the town.

"Oh, thank God." Emily said in the background. Even through the phone, I could hear relief in her voice.

"Is Jacob with you? I need to speak with him."

I looked towards him, offering the phone.

"I was trying to tell you," He added, looking at me. "Telepathy doesn't work when you're this far away."

I giggled, leading him out to the bike as he talked with Sam.

"A group of boys on patrol overheard the Cullen boy talking to Bella," Sam continued, and I silently thanked God for good hearing. "There is a war coming, Jacob."

"Ivy," I breathed, scrambling to rip the phone from Jacob's hands.

He was too tall, though, and he wouldn't let me. He held me back with one arm.

"Serena wants to know how her sister is, Sam?"

"She's fine, there's no problem here at all." Emily said, her voice calming me immediately. I trusted her and Sam to take care of Ivy, at least while I was gone.

"There's a vampire army being created in Seattle - the string of murders that have been all over the news lately, it's the new ones...feeding...and they're moving towards Forks. They want Bella, Jacob."

I cringed again at the mention of her name - I didn't know her, yet I still had to compete with her. Jacob looked at me, his eyes dark. I imagined Sam was awaiting his reaction, but I was as well.

"Serena and I will be home soon, you can fill me in on the rest there." He turned away, nodding for me to get on the bike, and whispered into the phone. "Sam, I hope you know I will not be leaving your house until we know Serena and Ivy are safe."

Sam groaned into the phone, and I heard Emily swat at him.

"You would've done the same for me." She complained.

"Alright, I'll set some extra pillows on the couch." Sam sighed.

"Thank you."

Jacob hung up the phone then, turning to face me as he climbed onto the bike.

"What about Bella?" I asked.

"She's got Edward to watch out for her."

I tried to hide my smile as I clung tighter, hearing the bike rev to life.

()()()

Jacob had barely gotten the bike to a standstill before I was off it, running towards the house at full speed. He made no move to stop me.

I brushed past Sam as he moved to speak with Jacob, and quietly burst into the sunroom.

Ivy was still asleep, tucked into her bed with the curtains drawn. I sighed, moving to check that the back door was still locked.

I could sense that Sam and Jacob were still outside talking, so I creeped into the kitchen and grabbed some of Emily's salt. I spread it around the doorways and windowsills, knowing that it would block any evil from entering the room. I would do the rest of the house tomorrow, when Sam and Emily went to work, before I took Ivy to school.

When I got back to Ivy's room, someone had beat me to it. Jacob stood in the corner, his nearly 7 foot body towering over her tiny bed, watching her sleep.

"I was so scared when I got the call, Jacob." I shook my head. "I thought oh God, someone found out, someone overheard us, and they're coming for her. I don't know why I think like that - as far as I know, nobody's ever hunted down a witch before. But vampires and witches, those two don't mix well. It makes me nervous, having this clan of vampires living twenty minutes away."

"Is that what the salt's all about?" Jacob smiled, raising an eyebrow. He moved out of the shadows to comfort me, coming behind me and wrapping his arms around.

"How'd you know about that?" I whipped around with curious eyes.

"I can smell it."

"Can Sam?"

"No, I don't think he's paying enough attention. He's got his mind on other things."

I nodded, leaning into his chest.

"Thank you for such a good night, Jacob." I spun to face him. God, he really was built like a wall.

"Of course, Serena, but I'm worried it'll be our last one for a while." He sighed, frowning deeply. His eyes were thick with worry, and he leaned down and rested his head on top of mine. "Some of the younger boys, they don't even know how to use their strength yet. I can barely control my own shifting sometimes. Sam and I need to start teaching them to fight, to defend themselves and La Push."

I bit my lip, trying to play it off, but I was nervous for everyone. Ivy was a sitting duck, a witch who had powers, but didn't know how to use them just yet. It would be years until she fully understood what she was, what she could do, and it was my job to keep her safe until then. I was scared for Jacob as well, the last thing I wanted was to see him out there, fighting for us. I was starting to believe that, if he left me, I would never get over it.

"So, when you boys go on sabbatical, you're really becoming werewolves?" I snorted as he nodded gently. "Oh, Gods, when someone comes into my office with that excuse that's going to be the first thing I'll think of."

He smiled down at me, chuckling a little, and wrapped an arm around my waist, picking me up. I dangled there, allowing myself to feel powerless for the first time in my life, as he guided me towards my bed. I rolled towards the wall, gesturing for him to climb in beside me, but there was absolutely no room in the tiny twin bed.

"At least you're a good space heater," I reminded him, and he clucked my chin. "I don't know how the hell Sam expects you to fit on the couch."

I blinked, thinking for a moment.

"If you're going to offer to take the couch, don't even think about it." Jacob said, narrowing his eyes.

"It might be better if you're in here, though. You'd keep Ivy warm, you'd be here to watch over her if she - "

"You're just as good of a guardian as I am, Serena, don't put yourself down." Jacob smiled, looking over at her before his face showed annoyance. "Sam's in my head again, he wants me out of your room."

"Well, good to know telepathy lines are up and running." I smiled, leaning up and kissing him goodnight. "I'll see you in the morning, wolf boy."

When I pulled back, he was laughing silently. It took him a moment to catch his breath.

"Until tomorrow, witchy woman."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N - I'm unsure if, in the books and movies, Sam and Emily have jobs. For my fanfic, Emily is a nurse at a nearby elderly care facility and Sam is a manager at an athletic club in Forks, but takes a lot of time off. Emily is the main breadwinner.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this chapter! xx.

()()()

 _"Are you pulling her from a burning building_

 _Or throwing her to the sharks?_

 _Can only hope the ending is as pleasurable as the start."_

 _\- Balaclava, Arctic Monkeys_

()()()

I woke up to the smell of pancakes early the next morning.

I pulled a robe on, shivering lightly, and tucked the covers tighter around Ivy, who was still sleeping soundly. The clock on the nightstand read 4 in the morning.

I left the sunroom and found that Jacob was still fast asleep on the couch, snoring lightly. Light shone in from the kitchen, and I saw Emily's sihlouette standing over the oven.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked gently, trying not to scare her.

"Oh," She blushed, looking at the mess around her. Nearly every inch of counter space was covered with some kind of pastry or dish. "I'm sorry, I have a tendency to bake when I'm nervous."

"Eh, the boys will eat it." I smiled, squeezing her arm gently and swiping a brownie for myself. "What's on your mind?"

She sighed, looking questioningly towards the door to the master bedroom. Even from out here, I could hear Sam snoring.

"I have every confidence in Sam, and in those boys, but they're all very young - they're all new wolves. There's been peace for years, the Cullens kept every other vampire away and, in the century they've been here, they've not once broken the treaty." She trailed off.

"You're worried they won't be up to the fight."

"They'll fight," She assured me. "They'll fight to the death, those boys, and that's what worries me."

In the darkness of the kitchen, I reached for her hand. It was meant to comfort, to reassure her, but my fingers were shaking just as badly as hers.

We both reached for the flour, our eyes wide and nervous, and preheated the oven.

()()()

When Ivy woke up she'd had her choice of breakfast - waffles, pancakes, crepes, eggs, bacon, omelets, french toast. She looked at the kitchen in delight and I didn't have the heart to tell her she shouldn't expect this from us every morning. But, for the next few weeks at least, who knew how much sleep Emily and I would get.

Jacob and Sam woke up at the same time, both of them hurrying into the kitchen to battle over who got what. Emily and I watched on, entertained. She ate her share of the breakfast food, too, but I only picked at my veggie omelet - it was hard for me to eat when my stomach was bundled with nerves.

Sam left for work around six, placing Jacob in charge of the pack while he was gone. Emily left soon afterward, her face pinched and nervous. I moved to get Ivy and I ready for school.

"Are you nervous?" I asked her, allowing her to pick from her bag a pair of Levis and a pink tee shirt with purple flowers on it.

"A little," she admitted, her pale cheeks turning red. "What if they don't like me?"

"You know what I think?" I told her, gesturing towards the back porch. "I think you should ask the Gods for bravery, while you're doing your morning meditation."

She groaned, her body visibly slumping, but she walked towards the back door. She knew better than to challenge me - especially on matters like this.

"Damn, you're strict." Jacob's voice came from the doorway, and I turned to face him.

He was nervous about the fight too, I could tell from the way he clung to me all morning - holding my hand, touching me gently, his hand on my thigh as we ate. With Sam at work most days, it was his job to train the new wolves, to teach them about themselves. Jacob wasn't looking forward to it.

I leaned up to kiss him, biting his bottom lip gently as I mumbled, "You're going to do great."

"You don't know that, Serena." He groaned. "What if they don't listen? What if I teach them wrong?"

"Now you sound like Ivy." I laughed.

"Please, don't make me do morning meditations too." He giggled, plopping himself down on the bed. He reached for me, pulling me close and nuzzling his head into my stomach. "Although, the only goddess I'd worship is you."

"Jacob," I said, tilting his head up so he could look at me. "You know what you're doing. I have full confidence that you can train these wolves to keep this town safe from any army - whether it be vampires or witch hunters."

He sniggered at that, his long arms wrapping around my waist.

"I'm doing this for you, you know." He said, his voice thick with honesty and emotion. "For now, the safest place for you is on this reservation. But, if this army does attack, then I want you and Ivy gone, Serena."

"You'll protect La Push, Jacob. You and Sam, you're the strongest leaders I know."

"I just want to keep you safe." He said, his eyes downcast. He was ashamed of his words, and I couldn't blame him.

"You do the best you can to train the others, Jacob Black. My imprint is a leader, one who takes care of this town and the people in it - I'm not going to have you risk everything for Ivy and me. You have to chose the pack. Remember, I'm not completely defenseless; if it really comes down to it, I can keep Ivy safe."

"But can you keep yourself safe?" He said, his eyes accusing.

"I get by, I always do."

He growled, angered by my words, but I leaned down to kiss him.

"Ew!" Ivy shrieked, coming into the room in a fit of giggles.

"Did you finish your meditation?" I asked, widening my eyes.

"Yes," She said, still giggling.

"Alright, then I'm kicking both of you out of here so I can get dressed." I said, ushering them towards the door. "It's my first day of work too, you know."

Jacob held up his hands in defense before putting them on Ivy's shoulders and guiding her out of the room.

"C'mon," He told her. "Come help me pack your lunch."

I dressed quickly when I was alone, thankful for the moment of peace, and said a silent prayer to my chief goddess that Jacob and Ivy would get through their first days with flying colors - and that maybe, just maybe, I would get through mine the same way. I pulled on a pair of skinny khakis and a pink v-neck, topping it off with black flats.

Stepping out of my room, it hit me that neither Ivy nor I had a jacket and it was the beginning of December. I was relieved when I walked into the kitchen to find her wrapped up in something of Emily's - although it was a bit big for her, it would do the job of not getting child services called on me her first day.

Jacob smiled approvingly when he saw me, minimal makeup and my dark hair tied up into a ponytail. I was strictly professional, and he was fighting not to laugh.

"You definitely don't look like the same person as last night, that's for sure." He said, coming around and pulling me in for a kiss. "You're still hot though."

I laughed out loud. Hearing Ivy begin to complain once more at our affection, I pulled away.

"We packed you a lunch, too." Ivy added with a smile, handing me a brown paper bag identical to her own.

"Thank you," I told her, giving Jacob a smile. "Alright, are you ready to go?"

Ivy nodded, racing out to the car.

"She doesn't seem as nervous at least," I sighed, giving Jacob one last kiss before heading towards the door myself. "I'll see you tonight."

Jacob nodded, watching as I hurried to the Wagoneer. We couldn't be late on the first day.

"Don't you have a jacket?" He said, stopping me quickly.

I shrugged, shaking my head.

"I haven't had time to get one."

Jacob rolled his eyes, pulling his duck jacket off the back of the couch and draping it over my shoulders. "

"There's no heat in the Wagoneer," He added knowingly, and I tried not to curse him for knowing so much about cars.

I almost asked him what would happen if he got cold, but then I remembered he was an unnaturally warm shapeshifter, so I leaned in and kissed him one more time before running out the door.


	14. Chapter 14

_"I promise I love you and_

 _Everything will work out fine._

 _Don't try to grow up yet,_

 _Just give it some time."_

 _\- Conversations With my 13 Year Old Self, P!NK_

()()()

I came home to a sore Jacob and a whiny Ivy. Apparently, I was the only one whose first day was anything close to pleasurable.

As things seemed, Ivy's first day had gone great. Everyone was obsessed with the new, pale, blonde girl - Ivy mentioned she was the only blonde in the class, in fact. But Jacob had called halfway through the day and announced that training hadn't taken nearly as long as he'd expected - the boys were learning fast - and he would pick up Ivy from school. I agreed without an ounce of reluctance. School let out at 3:30 but the office didn't close until 4:00, so Ivy would've had to wait with me otherwise.

Jacob Black came riding up on his black motorcycle with an extra helmet for my sister, and she was no longer the little blonde from California. According to Ivy, people feared her, said the Blacks were bad news, were dangerous, and their mothers didn't want them hanging around with her. Jacob was associated with Bella, Bella was associated with the Cullens - the rest of La Push might not know they were vampires, but they could tell the Cullens were bad news.

Ivy was crying, and Jacob was beating himself up about it.

He was on the couch, his head buried in his hands, surrounded by muffin wrappers.

"I really fucked up, Serena." He said after he explained, and I came to sit beside him.

"No, you didn't. You're a great guy, Jacob, it's those other kids, and those other parents, who fucked up." I said, running a hand over his cheek. "You're everything I want, you're everything Ivy wants, too. Did I tell you that, on the way to school this morning, she said we couldn't date? Because she wants to date you."

Jacob chuckled, blushing a little.

"God, she must hate me. She wouldn't even talk to me when we got home, she just ran straight to the sunroom and slammed the door."

"She's probably meditating, that's what I tell her to do when she's sad, or upset. She tells me she's trying to talk to Mom but, just like when Mom was alive, she doesn't have time for Ivy." I shook my head. "Believe me, Jacob, this isn't the first time, or the last time, Ivy's feelings have been hurt."

"I wish she didn't know pain," He said, thinking out loud. I sighed, leaning into him.

"Don't we all?"

()()()

From my spot beside Jacob, I could sense that Ivy was indeed meditating. I waited patiently for her to finish before knocking on the door.

"It's Serena," I yelled. "Can I come in?"

Sniffling, she opened the door. The second I stepped into the room, she ran into my arms.

"I feel so awful, Rena."

"I know, but Jacob didn't mean to - "

"Jacob?" She cut me off. "No, I'm not upset with Jacob. I'm mad at those other kids - how could they be so mean to me, to him? Don't they know what we can do?"

"No, they don't." I said firmly, grabbing her face and making her look at me. "And, if we're lucky, they won't know. You remember learning about the Salem Witch Trials, right? We don't need a repeat of that."

"We're stronger than that, Rena. We can take down - "

"Ivy Uley." I said firmly, my eyes narrowing. "We will not be 'taking down' anything. We're good witches, understand? That means, no matter how mad someone makes us, we never use our powers to hurt them. It's against our code."

"As long as ye harm none, do what ye will." Ivy mumbled, rolling her eyes. "I know."

"Then act like it."

With a sigh, Ivy moved away from me. She walked to the living room and snuggled up with Jacob, burrowing herself into his chest.

"I'm sorry," She said, snuffling again. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"I didn't mean to take away your new friends, Ivy." Jacob said, patting her hair.

I was amazed at how fluidly the two interacted - there was no ounce of awkwardness, no nervousness or misunderstandings between the two. It was like they'd known each other their whole lives.

The last boyfriend I'd had, Dan, was stiff and insecure around Ivy. She liked him more than he liked her, that was for sure, and she clung to him like a leaf while he tried to get rid of her. I was grateful that she liked Jacob, but even more enthralled that he liked her.

I watched them for a while, too nervous to break the moment, and said a little thank you to my goddess for giving me this, at least for now. Ivy eventually fell asleep there, cuddled into Jacob's chest, and he turned to me.

"I never asked," He whispered, very careful not to wake her. "How was your first day?"

"Flawless," I snorted, trying not to laugh too loud. "Until this afternoon, it went off without a hitch."

"Good," He said, motioning for me to come sit beside him on the couch. I did, trying to avoid making it squeak too much, and leaned on him, playing with Ivy's hair.

"I'm really glad you're so good with her." I smiled. "How was training?"

"The boys are learning quick, I guess that's a good thing."

"I feel like fighting is natural to you guys, it's like an instinct."

"Fighting is natural, especially when there's a threat. When someone comes at you, when they want to take away everything you have, everything you worked for, everything you love, then you're going to be ready to kill. It's tactic we have to work on, acting strategically and not on impulse. That's hard for a lot of us to do, me included." He reached over, putting an arm around me.

"Honestly, do you think the army will attack here?" I said, biting my lip. "I mean, why La Push, what do they want?"

"It's not La Push they're going for, it's Forks." He shook his head. "The Cullens have asked for our help defending against them. Sam and I have yet to decide if we're willing to join."

My heart sunk in my chest. I hadn't realized before, but this wasn't the wolves' fight - it was Bella's.

My eyes narrowed, my chest clenched with anger. This poor girl; she hasn't even met me before, but she already had the anger of a witch working against her.

"Serena," Jacob said slowly, as if he could feel my anger growing. "I have nothing towards Bella, I feel nothing but friendship for her."

"You're going to go to war for her."

"I'm going to war for you." He said, looking at me urgently. "If we don't stop them in Forks, if they take the town, it won't be long before they're here, too. Then they're not Bella's problem, or the Cullen's problem - they're yours and mine, they're Ivy's."

I looked at Ivy, young and trusting. She had the possibility to be great - an augury or a hedgewitch or whatever she wanted to be, whatever she was chosen to be - but none of that would happen if Jacob and I had to spend our lives running from a bunch of new, thirsty vampires.

In the end, I was more than willing to let him fight - as long as he came home afterwards.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N - Dan's faceclaim is Trace Cyrus or rapper Logic, whichever you prefer. xx.**

 **The song he sings is Remember You by G Eazy and Blackbear. It is in italics and I have no claims to it nor do I own it.**

()()()

 _"And you probably think I'm an asshole,_

 _Read your facial expression,_

 _But it's not everyday someone comes and leaves an impression."_

 _\- Remember You, G Eazy and Blackbear_

()()()

For two weeks, things continued on as normal as can be expected. Jacob and Sam continued to train the other boys, and came back almost every day with more and more positive reports. Jacob was ecstatic at how fast they were learning, how quickly they worked new maneuvers, but Sam remained skeptical.

"Training and fighting against your brothers is different. They go easy on each other even though they don't realize it, they don't move to kill. Things like that don't happen when the enemy is real, is in front of you." He'd say, telling the boys over and over again that they weren't prepared, they weren't ready.

Emily would pat him on the back, would urge him not to discourage the pack. In the end, he would turn away in silence.

As far as I could tell, things for Ivy slowly got better. Jacob started borrowing the Rabbit from his dad in the afternoons, picking her up in that to be less conspicuous. The kids kept teasing her though, for everything from her pale skin to her excellent grades. She'd made a friend, however, a little girl named Ruth. She said Ruth was the only one who was nice to her - I told her to be grateful for the friend she had, and I was pretty sure she listened.

Things continued easily for me, too. My days blew by, filled with work and Ivy and Jacob and the impending fear of a battle. I spent half of my nights sitting up with Emily, baking and cooking and chatting, our shaking hands holding quivering coffee cups. The only time I could sleep was on the rare nights that Ivy had a nightmare and asked for me to stay with her. I would snuggle beside her, our foreheads touching, and, finally, sleep would come.

The bags under my eyes grew, but no one seemed to notice. If they did, nothing was said.

()()()

My world was disrupted on a Saturday night.

Ivy had stayed up later than usual - it was her treat for doing so well at school - and was glued to the television screen, jabbering on about some music awards show _all_ the kids at school were talking about.

It was 10:00 before the show even started and Sam and Jacob, both exhausted, had already gone to bed. I'd given Jacob full use of my room for the night, knowing how sore he had to be after two weeks of training, night patrols, and sleeping on Sam and Emily's couch. Besides, this way he was able to retire early and Ivy could still watch her show. Emily and I were in the kitchen, working our way through the huge stack of dishes and utinsels we'd accumulated over our week of nocturnal cooking.

Not five minutes in, Ivy started screaming.

Not screaming like she was in pain, not by any means, but the kind of scream that occurs when a 13 year old sees Justin Bieber in person for the first time. Emily and I looked at each other and started to laugh, rushing into the kitchen to see what she was so excited about.

I nearly joked on my water.

On the TV screen was Dan Waters - my ex-boyfriend, Dan Waters.

Ivy screamed again.

"Turn it up." I said, motioning towards the remote as I moved closer to the TV.

I couldn't believe my eyes - Dan had told me he rapped, and I knew he was good, but he never mentioned anything like this.

We'd broken up maybe two months ago now, largely for the reason that Ivy was my first priority, and he wasn't fond of kids. He was twenty and still wanted to be a rapper, I was seventeen and needed to get a job - our lives were going in two completely separate directions.

I was still impressed as he crossed the stage, rapping about good girls gone sour and how fame changes people - unoriginal stuff, but the way he spun it was good. And there was a beat behind it that was easy to move to, catchy, which always helped a song sell.

"What award show is this?" I asked Ivy, knowing I was more of an underground music type of girl.

"MTV," She said quickly.

Wow, I blinked. That's a pretty big deal.

"I don't understand," Emily said, her brows furrowing.

"That's Rena's ex-boyfriend." Ivy said, pointing at the TV.

"His name's Dan." I nodded. "We've only stopped talking a month or two ago, but even back then he had nothing like this going on. He mentioned a record deal, but it was to a small, local company."

"Holy shi-shoot." Emily scoffed, and I noticed Sam was beside her. Ivy must've woken him up. "This definitely isn't local."

Suddenly, Sam started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

Sam looked at Ivy, making sure she was focused on the TV, before he spoke.

"Jacob must've heard my thoughts," Sam laughed. "He's feeling a little inadequate."

"Aw," I laughed, knowing he was on patrol now. I moved towards Emily, whispering. "I'm pretty sure Jacob's got a better dick anyways."

"Why am I not surprised." Sam groaned, rubbing his forehead lightheartedly. "I'm going back to bed. Goodnight, ladies."

He kissed Emily gently before retiring towards his bedroom. Emily and I finished watching Dan's performance, bobbing our heads lightly to the music. When the music ended, Dan bowed slightly, beaming as the audience cheered and applauded. Then, he raised the microphone to his lips.

"Thank you guys, I'm Dan Waters and I'm here to get you wet." The crowd cheered louder, and I rolled my eyes - this wasn't the first time Dan had used his last name to his advantage, I could vouch for that. "Really though, this next song is going to be my last one for the night, before we welcome Bruno Mars up onto the stage. I want to dedicate it for a special girl, one who's definitely not watching tonight, because MTV and rap music just 'isn't her scene."

He laughed, and I felt my stomach start to drop.

"Oh, fuck." I muttered, looking towards the screen with wide eyes.

"This one's for you, Serena." The camera zoomed in on Dan's face, and he winked at it before beginning. _"She's got her own crib with a twin bed in West Hollywood, she uptown..."_

From the forest, I heard a wolf howl.


	16. Chapter 16

_"Oh my love will fly to you each night_

 _On angel's wings."_

 _\- Godspeed, Dixie Chicks_

()()()

Ivy went to bed around midnight, the same time Jacob came home from patrols.

He marched straight into the sunroom from the backdoor, where I was sitting on the floor doing meditations (I really felt I needed them on a day like today). Thankfully Ivy had fallen asleep quickly, tired from staying up so late, and he didn't wake her as he slammed open the door.

"Jacob," I said, warning him lightly. If Ivy woke up now, she'd never get back to sleep.

He didn't respond as he rushed towards my figure, huffing with anger, and plucked me off the floor like a doll. He tossed me, albeit gently, on the bed, visibly trying to restrain himself.

"Is this about Dan?" I whisper-shouted. "Gods, Jacob. He's nothing."

"He wrote a song for you, that song! It was a good one, too. He's got talent." Jacob continued to huff, turning to look at me with wild eyes. "But, you're mine, Serena."

"I'm not property." I chided him gently, watching my sister sleep with cautious eyes. "You don't own me. I'm here because I want to be here, I'm with you because I want to be with you. I'm not a fucking _possession_ , alright?"

He growled lowly - what I said had angered him even more. Gods, it was like dealing with a toddler sometimes. I moved to stand beside him, to put a hand on him, to try and comfort him, but he pushed me away. He walked out the back door and, with one last look at my sister, I followed him.

He was close to changing, I could see it, and I respected him for keeping Ivy out of it. As for myself, I was confident I'd be able to calm him down before anything happened. I really didn't want her to see us fighting, either.

"Jacob Black." I called, chasing after him. "I'm in La Push, Washington on an Indian Reservation, living with my estranged Uncle, his beautiful fiancee, and taking care of my eleven year old sister. I'm an orphan who's never known her father, I have fucking magical powers, and the boy I'm in love with changes into a wolf. There's an army of vampires coming this way and I'm still here. Do you really think I'd pick up and leave, drag my sister back down the coast, and shack up with a celebrity?"

"Sounds like a teenage dream." Jacob scoffed, lightly enough that I shouldn't have been able to hear him. I did, though - I always do.

"And this is a teenage _nightmare_ ," I rolled my eyes. "But I'm happy here, and Ivy's happy here, and nothing outside of that matters."

Jacob paused for a moment, his body tensing up, and he turned to look at me.

"Wait, did you say you loved me?"

"Well, my exact words were 'the boy I'm in love with changes into a wolf,' so it's between you and - "

Jacob growled, rushing towards me. He picked me up, bringing me up to his nearly 7 foot height, and pulled my body flush against his.

When our lips connected, I could feel him smiling.

Jacob was an animal - possessive, insecure, demanding - and he kissed like one, too. Teeth biting at lips, dark bruises peppering my neck and collarbone, disquieting moans into the night. His massive hands gripped hard onto the backs of my thighs as he held on tightly, determined not to let go.

"You're so beautiful," He said, his lips making a trail down my chest in my low cut nightshirt. It was freezing out, but I was warm when I was enveloped in Jacob.

I started to say something more, but it was cut off by a whimper coming from the house.

I spun my head quickly, Jacob looking up just as fast, and saw Ivy standing in the doorway in nothing but pajamas.

"Oh, Ivy," I said, scrambling to get out of Jacob's arms, to get her inside.

Jacob beat me to it, however, and rushed to her attention. He wrapped his arms around my tiny sister, acting as her personal heater. He moved to go back into the bedroom, but she started to scream.

"No, no!" She hollered, looking between Jacob and me with wild eyes. "There's something in there."

I caught Jacob's eye. I sat on the edge of the porch, goosebumps pricking up as my flesh connected with the cement through my thin pajama pants. I held my arms out and Jacob reluctantly passed her to me. I fought to keep both of us warm while Jacob moved to check out the room.

"Ivy, are you sure it wasn't a nightmare? You've been having a lot of those lately." I asked her, brushing hair away from her quivering lips. She shook her head no. "What did you see, then? Tell me everything."

"I woke up and the back door was open, you were gone. I stayed in bed and tried to go back to sleep, thinking maybe you were meditating or something, but there was a scratching noise from the window - the one behind my bed. So I sat up and I heard it again, and I didn't want to ignore it, so I looked. Someone was staring back at me." Ivy shivered, crawling deeper towards my chest. "He had red eyes, Rena. I've never seen eyes like that before."

"There's nothing in the room," Jacob came out, shaking his head. "You two go back in, I'll be there in a minute."

I nodded, picking up Ivy and carrying her to her bed.

 _'Lock the door,'_ Jacob mouthed to me as we walked past him. I didn't hesitate to nod.

I settled my little sister in her bed, crawling in beside her at her request.

"Ivy," I said, careful not to let my voice falter. "Let's say prayers again."

She nodded, and I led her in her usual nighttime prayer. Halfway through, there was a knock on the door.

"It's me," Jacob's voice called out, and I moved to let him in. "There's nothing out there, Ivy."

She nodded, slowly accepting that she was safe. Her bottom lip was shaking - she was still cold - and I watched as she looked towards Jacob.

"Can you sleep in here tonight?" She asked him, eyes wide and innocent.

"Of course," He smiled broadly. "I'm your knight in shining armor, remember?"

Ivy giggled as Jacob settled into bed beside her, planting a kiss on her forehead and whispering a bedtime story into her ear as I quickly changed into a new pair of pajama pants. My old ones were soaked from sitting on the snow-filled porch.

When I was finished, Ivy was fast asleep beside Jacob, but he was still awake. I crept towards them, leaning down to whisper into Jacob's ear.

"This is why you're here, and Dan's not." I said, planting a small kiss just below his earlobe. "You don't just love me, you love her as well."

()()()

 **A/N - I've decided to put this at the end because it's longer than most of my notes. If you're uninterested, feel free to skip this section. I also want to add that, as chapters go on, I will most likely raise this to an M rating. Thanks for reading! xx.**

 **I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed, and also BloodyAvenger21 for her kind review on my other story, A Small World, that mentioned this story and it's relation to the Tom Petty song, Wildflowers. I actually pulled the title from the name of the song, and am planning to use the lyrics in a later chapter. Thank you to everyone who's reading, reviewing and has stuck with this story! xx.**


	17. Chapter 17

_"I know you have a delicate fate,_

 _You're a quiet man but in the worst way._

 _I'm not a follower and I won't follow you down."_

 _-Jameson, Zella Day_

()()()

Over breakfast that morning, Sam and Jacob were having a telepathic argument.

You could see it in their eyes, how strained they were, how they stared at each other. Sam had begun by questioning, out loud, why Jacob had spent the night in the sunroom, with Ivy and me, and they'd gone on for most of breakfast.

Emily smiled at me from across the table, trying to break the silence.

"Are you sure you don't want more than coffee, Serena?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jacob stopped his stare down with Sam to look at me, empty plate and all.

"I'm not hungry, thank you." I said, hoping she wouldn't bring it up anymore.

The nerves were bundling again, twisting and turning my stomach into a Black Flag concert. There was something Jacob was neglecting to tell me, and I was scared to find out what it was.

Ivy wouldn't lie, and she knew the difference between nightmare and reality, but then why hadn't Jacob been able to sense this vampire? I wondered if I had distracted him too much last night - maybe if I hadn't been all over him, he would've kept whatever it was away from Ivy.

Jacob sensed my uneasiness and slithered a hand under the table, resting it on my thigh. I didn't want to admit it, but his touch did help calm me.

Ivy finished her breakfast and headed towards the living room - she'd been stuck to the TV ever since we'd gotten here, but I couldn't blame her. She was making up for lost time, plus it allowed Emily and me time to talk.

"What's going on?" She said, nodding towards Jacob and Sam.

"Ivy saw something last night. Somebody was at her window with red eyes."

"She must've been dreaming," Sam shook his head. "Jacob didn't smell anything, and it's nearly impossible for a bloodsucker to get past our patrols."

"She was really terrified," I sighed. "She knows what's real and what's not real."

"It was dark, Serena," Jacob sighed. "It was dark and she was alone and nervous. Look, Sam and I are going to take care of it whether it's a real threat or not, alright?"

"Fine," I sighed, holding my hands up in defense.

"I'm calling a meeting," Sam announced, looking at Jacob. "We can discuss what Ivy saw there."

Emily rose to do the dishes, and the boy stood up as well. Sam gave Emily a kiss and Jacob gave me a chaste one, not wanting to anger Sam, as they both walked out the door to meet with the pack.

"Ivy," I called towards the living room. "C'mon, morning meditations."

"But we already - "

I gave her a pointed glare, and she knew not to finish her sentence. Curiously, she followed me to the sunroom.

"What are we doing?" She whispered.

I didn't answer her as I pulled a black book out of one of my bags, sitting on the floor and shuffling through it until I found what I wanted.

"We are going to learn how to protect ourselves, Ivy."

"Jacob's there for that, he's our knight in shining armor." She said, blinking innocently.

"He is, and he's always going to watch out for you. But we're witches, Ivy - we should know how to take care of ourselves." I said, remembering years ago when Mom gave me a similar speech. "Now sit beside me, and remember who you are."

()()()

The book was Mom's, and she wrote down every spell she'd ever cast. It took me a little, but I finally came across a protection spell for the home. I figured, if it needed to be, that was our first line of defense.

While the salt did wonders (and probably kept the bloodsucker out last night, in its' defense) a protection spell was even stronger.

I plucked a mirror from the hall when Emily wasn't looking and placed it in the center of our room, surrounding it with candles. I drew all the curtains. I instructed Ivy to light one candle every time I pointed to her, going in a circle.

"Lunar light, protect me."

Ivy lit a candle.

"Lunar light, protect me."

We did this nine times, sometimes slowly as it still took Ivy a while to get the candles to light.

When we were finished, and all the candles were lit, I took her hand.

 _"Great Goddess of the Lunar Light_  
 _and Mistress of the Seas;_  
 _Great Goddess of the Mystic Night_  
 _and of the Mysteries;_  
 _Within this place of candles bright_  
 _and with Your mirror nigh;_  
 _Protect me with Your might_  
 _while ill vibrations fly."_

I grabbed the mirror, reflecting the light of the candles onto every surface of the sunroom. When I was done, I told Ivy to extinguish the candles.

She could barely do that.

I tried not to be discouraged - if my sister could hardly put out fire with her powers, how could I expect her to fight against an attacker if she needed to? Our powers weren't like that of the wolves, or the vampires - they came in on their own, they didn't get better with practice. There would be no training with Ivy - but there would be a hell of a lot of praying.

As Ivy cleaned up, I shuffled through Mom's book some more, but I could find nothing about casting a protective spell over a person. For now, Ivy was safe in the house - but she stepped foot outside and Jacob and I would have to keep an extra close eye on her.

Nervous, I began to bite my nails. Ivy was my responsibility, and I had dragged her away from her childhood home, from everything she knew, to live with a family of werewolves just before the breakout of a vampire war.

Oh Gods, Mom had to be rolling around in her grave right now.

I heard the dishes clink around in the sink.

"Ivy, you can go play." I told her, grabbing her arm before she left the room. "But hey, don't say anything to anyone, not even Jacob. This is our secret."

She nodded fervently before leaving the room.

I shut the door behind her, grabbing one of the candles we'd used to do the ceremony and lighting it in front of me.

Like I had seen Ivy try to do so many times before, I called to my mother. I hoped that, maybe for me, she'd answer.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N - Alina Uley's faceclaim is Michelle Pfeiffer.**

()()()

 _"I never knew daylight could be so violent,_

 _A revelation in the light of day."_

 _\- No Light, Florence + The Machine_

()()()

Not even a moment later, the smell of cigarette smoke and Pinot Grigio filled the room.

Reluctantly, even nervously, I opened my eyes.

"I don't like him, you know."

My mother was on the bed in front of me, dressed in the grey chignon she'd offed herself in, smoking a Marlboro and drinking wine from the bottle.

"Good to see you, too." I scoffed lightly.

For a thirty-something, and a ghost, my mother was still beautiful. I was always struck by that, whether she was dead or alive, the way she held herself, how young she looked, how different we looked. She was blonde and fair and pale - her and Ivy were cut from the same cloth, and Gods only knew where I came from.

"That wolf boy you're running around with, although he's definitely a hell of a beautiful specimen - as I saw last night - he's no good for you or Ivy." She clucked her tongue. "To be honest, I can't believe you brought her back here."

"You saw it coming though, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. I knew I was die and I knew how, but more importantly I knew you would come here, would stay with my brother and his fiancee, would have a wolf imprint on you. But, Rena, do you know how it ends?"

"I'm not an augury, Mom, much to your dismay." I said, rolling my eyes. "Would you like to tell me how it ends?"

"Here's how I see it. You hang out here until you turn 18, and then you and Ivy go back to California. That Dan boy really is a charmer, and I'll have you know he's waiting for you with open arms."

"Why would I go back?" I said, my brows furrowing.

"Because the war is coming, Rena, and it's going to change everything."

"What if we leave, Ivy and I? What if we go before the war starts and we come back when it's over and done with? I need to keep her safe, Mom."

"Ivy is safe, she will always be safe - it's you I'm worried about. Your boyfriend is a ticking time bomb, dear. It makes no difference if you leave before the war or you stay through it and leave after - eventually, you will leave this town. It'll be for the same reasons I did."

"Why did you leave? I never knew, you never told me. Sam won't talk about it, but -"

From the corner of the room the static of a record player started up where there was none - the beginning of Lesley Gore's You Don't Own Me started to play.

"Remember your dreams tonight, Rena." Mom smiled, almost viciously. "I'll be sure to send the right ones your way."

With a laugh, Mom disappeared, but she left behind the phantom music, and I sat in silence until the song finished.

Everything with Mom was a mystery - from her death to her frequent disappearing acts - why should this be any different?

I sighed, realizing I hadn't even asked her about a protection spell for Ivy.

From the woods, the boys were returning - the entire pack, probably curious if there was any breakfast left. Knowing Emily, she'd whip something up.

Alone in my room once more, I turned and faced the door, waiting for Jacob to barge in.

Mom was wrong - I really did love him, I wanted him, and I was going to stay in La Push for as long as it was safe.

()()()

I was off the rest of the day, even I could tell. I walked around like a zombie, not much of a help to anyone.

If they asked, I complained of a headache. If they asked again, I would say I was tired.

Eight o'clock rolled around and I tucked Ivy into bed, giving Jacob a chaste kiss before retiring myself, avoiding any further questions.

It took me forever to fall asleep - the dreams could not come soon enough. And, when they did, I wished they hadn't.

()()()

It happened in blurbs.

Me, standing on the shores of a beach. It was summer, but still chilly, and I watched from my spot on a towel as Jacob and Ivy traversed through the waves, her little arms flailing, Jacob showing her how to jump the waves, Jacob keeping her safe. He held her tight around the waist, his long fingers meeting on her middle, and helped her when she needed it.

I didn't understand what Mom was talking about - this wasn't the kind of future I'd run away from. But, all too soon, it was gone.

It was replaced by a little green cottage in the woods, Jacob's motorcycle out front, the Wagoneer beside it. Sam's truck was parked a little farther down, and he was in the front yard, throwing a football back and forth with Ivy. She was bigger here - not significantly so, but healthier, maybe. Her cheeks were flushed with color. Through the window you could see me, bent over what looked like the kitchen sink, scrubbing away at the dishes.

This was my house. This was my front yard and my car in the driveway and those were my dishes I was washing.

I walked towards it, eager to see more of this future, but, like the last one, it was gone before it had even registered.

We were in the woods now, outside of the cottage. Jacob and I were screaming, things being throne, words being hurled that didn't make sense to me, flying past me like bullets. But Jacob was pissed, probably more so than I'd ever seen him.

He started to shake again, like he had the other night, and I watched as I moved to calm him. It didn't work, my words had been too harsh, I'd cut him too deeply, and he flung me away from him harder than he meant to.

Jacob was half on the ground, half human and half something else, when Ivy came running from the house, yelling my name.

Even in my dream I yelled at her to stop, to turn around, to come to me, not to Jacob, but she ran towards him like he was a lighthouse in a storm - until now, he always had been.

I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to watch the inevitable, and I felt myself fall backwards.

()()()

I was in my bed.

Ivy was quietly breathing beside me and the room was icy cold and the comforter was tucked around me as if Jacob had come in and seen me struggle, withering and twisting in my sleep, and tried to help.

He always tried to help, tried to be so good that sometimes it was all too easy to forget how much of an animal he really was. It was like he was trying to make up for all the bad things he was doing by taking care of me, by taking care of Ivy. And Gods, I loved him for it.

But being with Jacob was my choice, there was no reason it needed to be Ivy's as well.

Mom was an augury, but what she saw didn't always come true, it wasn't inevitable.

There were other ways we could fix this, other futures and other paths. Ivy and I didn't have to move out of Sam and Emily's house, we didn't have to buy the beautiful green house in the middle of the woods. I could send Ivy away whenever Jacob and I fought, I could keep her safe - I was convinced of it.

We didn't have to leave La Push, we didn't have to leave Sam or Emily or Jacob - we just had to find a way around the future that Mom saw. And, if her visions were any calling card, we had a good bit of time, too.

I sighed, smiling lightly and allowing myself to drift back off to sleep, thinking about the beach, thinking about the sun and the warmth and a shirtless Jacob and a happy Ivy.

I was exhausted, but I was sure I'd heard the beginning of You Don't Own Me again, spinning and crackling like a record.

I tried to look, I tried to talk, but sleep had won.

()()()

 **A/N - I hope you all like this chapter, it took me a long time because I wasn't sure how I wanted to format it or how I wanted the dream sequence to go. Hopefully it all makes sense and flows nicely. Thank you all for read, reviewing, and following this story! xx.**


	19. Chapter 19

"Growing up like a grapevine

Wrapped around you in due time."

\- Sweet Ophelia, Zella Day

()()()

The next week or so was normal, an ongoing procession of school and work and hearing the pack in the backyard, smashing and fighting and bashing each others heads in. It had been going on for more than just 7 days and I still wasn't used to it - every time I heard someone's bones hit the ground, I could've sworn it was Jacob.

But he always came back. Whether it was him or not, he would show up for dinner, unscathed and with a smile on his face. As long as he came whole, I was happy.

Sam didn't always come for dinner. Emily hated it, the way he pushed himself, pushed the back, but she wasn't about to interfere. She was here to support him, not to question his leadership abilities.

After dinner they'd go back out and train again, often through most of the night. I could hear Emily pacing in the living room on nights when Sam and Jacob didn't come home, her quiet feet clad only in slippers. Her footfalls were like the ticking of a clock - the close it got to daylight, the more urgent they got.

Jacob was strolling in around 3 or 4 these days, after Ivy was already fast asleep. Sometimes, I'd pretend to be asleep too, just so I could watch his huge figure try to sneak around, kissing Ivy on the forehead and smiling over at me before creeping back to the living room to spend the night.

He would've kissed me too, but the few times he'd done it Jacob had 'woken me up,' and I hadn't had the heart to tell him any different.

In the mornings, I'd try to let him sleep - but Ivy never would. She'd run over to him, jumping on top of him in a fit of giggles while I packed her lunch. Her arms would flail and her mouth wouldn't stop moving as she told Jacob how much she missed him - he'd wake up a moment later, his strong arms engulfing her as he started to laugh as well.

"How was your day, Jake?" Ivy would always finish, and he and I would stare at each other for a moment.

Ivy didn't know what he did all day - the wolves and vampires were still a secret to her, still too confusing of a subject. She'd been taught that magic was a secret and to find out there was a whole different, magic world out there would be too much for her.

On this particular morning, Jacob at least had an answer - even if it was a fake one.

"My day was good, Ivy." He smiled lightly. "I worked on the Rabbit."

"Does that mean you can pick me up from school today?" She said eagerly. "Please, you haven't in so long!"

"It's been a week, Ivy." I mentioned, rolling my eyes at her. "That is not 'so long.'"

"It is long," Ivy pouted.

"Did you do your morning-"

"Yes," She groaned, sticking her tongue out at me. In return, I did the same.

"You know what, it is Friday." Jacob smiled, looking at Ivy. "Maybe if I finish up early with the..uh, Rabbit..I can pick you up and take you out for a treat."

Ivy shrieked with delight and I shushed her - Emily and Sam were both trying to catch up on sleep in the room down the hall.

A moment later, I motioned for Ivy to get her lunch and backpack and head out to the car.

"Good morning," I told Jacob, sipping on my cup of coffee. He smiled, stretching out on the couch. I nodded towards it. "You can sleep with me, you know, when you come home."

"No," He shook his head. "I'd only wake you up."

"Probably." I sighed, rolling my eyes lightly. "Well, I'm out of here, so you can take over my bed."

"Jacob's eyes lit up and he pulled me in for a long kiss. He tasted like the air after the rain, his arms coming up and encircling me, reminding me of the protective way he'd hold my sister - like she was a china doll and the rest of the world was the bull. I wondered what he had planned for her tonight.

"All I did was let you use my bed," I laughed, swatting at him. "You don't have to thank me that much."

"I wanted to," He smiled, swatting at my butt as he stood and walked towards the sunroom.

"Hey, wait." I called after him. "Where are you taking my sister tonight?"

"What makes you think you're not invited?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"What makes you think Sam will let you out of practice?"

"You and Ivy have him wrapped around your finger. He'll do anything if I so much as mention your name."

"Funny," I said, crossing to him and looking him in the eye. "Sam says the same thing about you."

Jacob swallowed.

"Anyways, I was going to take her, and you, to Chuck E Cheese."

"Oh, Gods." I groaned, hiding my head in my hands. "Jacob, that is a very, very bad idea."

"Why?" He scoffed, looking a little offended.

"The last time she went there she managed to get mono, and I got pink eye in both eyes." I shook my head. "We are not going to Chuck E Cheese."

"I promised her a treat, Serena, where do you want me to take her?"

"Look," I sighed. "Let's just go to the movies."

Jacob thought for a moment.

"But, I know someplace cheaper, where it's harder to lose your kid, and there's tons of other parents around."

"I'm not going to Chuck E Cheese,"

"You can wait in the car then."

()()()

A/N - I'm sorry for the long delay on this chapter, but work got really hectic and I didn't have time to update. Thanks for sticking with me! xx.


	20. Chapter 20

_"And when you tell me you love me,_

 _I can actually see it._

 _Your breath frozen in the air,_

 _Newborn droplets of ice._

 _You were the one thing I got right."_

 _-You in January, The Wonder Years_

()()()

And so, without even an argument, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's.

Jacob as much as mentioned it to Ivy and she jumped at the chance - if I told her know, she would've thought I was a witch, and not the good kind. So we sat in the car for half an hour, dancing to the radio and singing too loud. Jacob kept one hand on the wheel, the other on my thigh, and I watched Ivy in the backseat.

She wasn't wearing a seatbelt, but then again neither was I. We both trusted Jacob, maybe a little too much. Reluctantly, without her noticing, I glanced back and, using telepathy, crossed her seatbelt over her and locked it shut. Ivy didn't even glance at me, her eyes closed tightly as she sang along to Justin Bieber.

I didn't even think about clicking my own seatbelt into place, I just leaned over to turn up the radio louder, Jacob giving me an annoyed look. He looked in the rearview mirror, seeing Ivy enjoy herself, and couldn't help but smile. He didn't bother to turn it back down.

We pulled off the road into the parking lot, already packed with cars. It was 4 o'clock on a Friday, and I didn't know what I expected. Ivy was already jumping up and down with anticipation.

"Can we go in?" She shouted, running out of the car.

Jacob leaned over to kiss me on the cheek.

"Are you coming in, Rena?" He teased, pouting a little.

"You look like a damn dog," I swatted at him, trying not to laugh as he howled. "Yeah, why not."

I climbed out of the car as well, teetering in my small heels, and allowed Jacob to catch up with Ivy. He raced up behind her, plucking her off the ground and pulling her onto his shoulders, smiling as she giggled.

"Put her down before you get inside, you giant!" I called after him, worrying he might smack her against the glass doorframe. Sometimes he forgot his own height.

Even from back here, I could hear Ivy babbling on about The BFG, a story she was reading in school, who reminded her of Jacob. I tried not to laugh - Jacob was a storybook character alright, just not that kind.

I hurried to catch up with them, Jacob and Ivy already getting their hands stamped by a young, pimply boy.

He took one look at me and his eyes turned hungry.

"I'm with them," I said breathlessly, nodding towards Jacob and Ivy.

"Brothers and sisters?" He said optimistically, and I tried not to laugh.

"The blonde is my little sister, Jacob is - "

"Her boyfriend," He growled, putting an arm around me and pulling so tightly I was nearly, literally, swept off my feet. I tried not to lash out at him, angry that he'd handled me like I was an object, his own personal rag doll.

But it worked and the boy swallowed, looking at Jacob's towering figure, and held up his hands in defense.

"Just making conversation." He smiled, turning to the customers behind us.

Jacob nodded, leading Ivy and I to the play area.

"The growl was unnecessary," I mentioned as he set Ivy up with a bunch of tokens.

"You did call me a dog earlier," He reminded me, winking as Ivy ran off to play.

"C'mon, let's get a table."

Conveniently, it looked like our waiter would also be male. He avoided all eye contact with me, probably tipped off by the teenager at the door, and stared at the ground. We ordered two pizzas, knowing Jacob would likely hog at least one of them for himself.

We sat in the corner booth, his arm around me, watching Ivy play.

"Thank you for doing this," I told him. "She's never really had someone do anything like this before."

"She's had you," Jacob shrugged. "She loves you, Rena, even if she doesn't act like it."

"Please," I teased him. "You're her new favorite person. Her dad passed away when she was little, and other than that you're the only guy she's ever had around."

Jacob nodded, clenching his jaw.

"I'd like to keep it that way, you know?" He smiled, but it felt forced.

"Oh, Gods," I moaned. "This was supposed to be a fun night out, what's gone and made you pissy?"

"He keeps looking at you, Serena." Jacob sighed, nodding towards the teenager at the door again.

"Jacob, he's a kid." I shook my head, grabbing at his face. "You're the one I want, alright? Don't go pulling all of this territorial bullshit on what's supposed to be such a good night."

"He needs to know that you're mine," Jacob said. I could feel his anger radiating off him, his body heating up.

Fucking A, he was going to shift in the middle of a Chuck E. Cheese.

"Outside, Jacob." I ordered, sliding out of the booth just as our pizza came. I mumbled to the waitress to leave it on the table, and showed Jacob to the back door.

"I'm not leaving you in there with him."

"Go out and calm down before you make a scene and scare Ivy." I said, glaring at him. "I just praised you for how good you were to her, just told you how much she adored you. Turning into a fucking wolf in front of her isn't going to give you any brownie points."

As a last resort, in this deserted back hallway of Chuck E Cheese, I leaned up and kissed him, firmly and fully, like I had that night in the woods.

It still didn't work, and he continued to shake.

"I'll wait here until you're done," I opened the back door, praying an alarm wouldn't sound.

It didn't, and I shut it after Jacob was gone.

He was back within 5 minutes, noticably cooler, definitely calmer. If it wasn't for his duck jacket being zipped up all the way, I never would've realized he'd even shifted. He must've been in the middle of stripping when it happened.

Smirking a little, I realized how attractive that sentence would've been had it not ended with Jacob turning into a giant wolf.

I shook my head, feeling Jacob reach for my hand - his possessiveness was getting more than a little out of hand. It was starting to remind me of what my mother said all those weeks ago, about him being a time bomb. I tried to rid her from my thoughts. Hopefully he was done for the night.

When we got back to the table Ivy was already there, pulling a slice of cheese pizza onto her paper plate. Without even glancing over at the teenager who'd been eyeing me most of the night, Jacob rushed to sit beside Ivy.

"Did you start eating without us?" He teased, reaching for the entirety of his own meat lovers pizza.

"I didn't know where you went." She shrugged, looking over at me and producing a long string of tickets. "Look how many I got so far, Rena!"

"Woah," I smiled. "That's a lot of tickets!"

We finished eating and I took her up to exchange her tickets for prizes. She got a small purse, one she was very excited about. When we turned around Jacob was there, my purse and his car keys in hand.

"We need to go home," He said quickly, quietly ushering us out of the restaurant.

"Why?" Ivy pouted, but Jacob looked at me when he answered.

"It's starting. The Cullens say they will be here tomorrow morning." He said, his eyes dark.

That's why he was so close to changing, that's why he was so nervous the whole night. Sam had been feeding him information, little facts, and Jacob was ready to get Ivy and me out of town.

Breathlessly, I nodded. We'd be home soon, and Ivy and I would pack to go. We'd stay somewhere else for the weekend, somewhere farther North, where the army wasn't. The vampires weren't looking for us, anyway, they didn't know about us.

I could see in the way he looked at me that he wanted nothing more than to come with us, but Jacob had promised to keep La Push safe. I leaned across the center of the car, laying my head in his lap as he drove, lacing an arm around my shoulders.

Ivy was quiet in the backseat, pulling out her backpack and starting on her homework. The car was silent.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N - I've officially changed the rating of this story to M, for anyone who's curious! thanks for reading, xx.**

()()()

 _"And then take what you need to take, what's yours is mine_

 _And then just give all you want of it to some new thing"_

 _\- Mothers, Daughter_

()()()

Jacob jerked the Rabbit into the driveway, cutting the engine as Ivy and I raced out.

Sam was waiting on the porch, his arms crossed against his chest. He whispered something to Jacob, nodding towards the woods, and then glancing at Ivy and I.

His eyes were sad, his mind seemed disoriented. I prayed that everything would go alright tomorrow and ushered Ivy towards our bedroom, pulling our bags out of the closet.

"We're going on a trip, you and me." I told her, trying to think of some quick, easy excuse. "While we're there, you're going to focus on your powers."

She grinned then, packing her bag more eagerly. Gently, I pressed her to pack for longer than just the weekend - nothing was definite anymore, and I didn't want us stuck on the outskirts of Sekiu, Washington wearing last week's pajamas.

To further my story about us going there to practice witchcraft, I packed our prayer candles and some herbs, things that would back me up. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to practice while we were there, anyways. Just in case something happened.

Despite being assured the vampires didn't want us, didn't know we existed, and they were after that Bella girl, I had a bad feeling about this trip. I told myself it was nerves, I was frightened something might happen to Jacob or Sam or even Emily, who was staying in town for the fight.

I would say extra prayers for them tonight, and every night while I was gone.

If I was in a good mood, I'd even say prayers for Bella - it sounded like she needed them.

Ivy was deciding which nightgown was warmest when there was a knock on the door to the sunroom. Jacob stood in the doorway, his jaw tightly set, clearly holding back his emotions.

"You almost ready to go?" He said, his voice low and pained. He felt the same way about this as I did.

"Almost," I smiled. "Finish packing, Ivy, I'm going to say goodbye to Jacob."

I opened the back door of the sunroom, stepping onto the concrete porch outside. Jacob took off his jacket, wrapping it around me. I protested, but he refused to take it back.

"You never brought a coat, Serena. Take it with you, you need it more than I do."

I was exhausted from fighting with him tonight, exhausted from everything that had happened tonight, and did nothing but nod, trying hard to hold back my own tears.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I sighed, leaning in close and wrapping my arms around him. He held me to him, and even through the huge jacket I could feel his massive hands on my back.

"I'll be okay," He nodded, laying his head atop mine.

"I know you will. Besides, if you aren't, I'll know. I can feel it, can't I? Or does that only work one way?"

"I'm hoping we won't have to find out," Jacob sighed. "This isn't for long, Rena, but it doesn't make it any easier. Every inch of me is fighting the separation, begging me to stay with you. I shouldn't be defending this place, I should be protecting you and Ivy."

"Shifting is a gift, just like witchcraft." I said, telling him the same thing I told Ivy years ago. "We have these gifts for a reason. I don't know what mine is, but yours is to protect La Push, and the people in it. You can't misuse your abilities, especially not for selfish reasons."

"You sound like Sam," He scoffed.

"We are related," I rolled my eyes, pulling his face down to mine for a long kiss.

Even his tongue was warm, hot like a fireplace poker, as it slithered between my lips. He reached a hand down, squeezing at my butt and pulling me flat against him. I could feel his excitement, his erection poking at the zipper of his jeans, waiting to be let out, but I knew this wasn't the time.

"I'm not fucking you on the back porch of Sam's house while my sister's a room away." I told him gently, untangling my fingers from his hair.

"It wouldn't be fucking," He said, his own breath hot against my ear. "It would be making love."

I smiled, trying not to blush.

"Whatever you want to call it, not tonight. We have to go, Jacob."

I sighed, shutting my eyes tightly, breathing in his smell - like a forest after the rain, same as always. I would carry that with me as I went.

Ivy poked her head out the door then, giggling at our embrace.

"I want to say goodbye too," She pouted, running at Jacob as soon as he pulled away from me.

He caught her up in his arms, wrapping them so tightly around my little sister that I feared he might squish her. She sighed, giggling a little.

"I'll be back soon Jake, okay?" She smiled, patting him lightly on the back.

He really was avoiding tears now, trying to fight the instinct to come with Ivy and me. The imprint was what made him not want to leave my side, but it was pure love that made him not want to leave Ivy.

"C'mon," I said after a few more minutes, holding out my arms to take her from him. It was getting late and Sekiu was a long drive. "We need to go, Ivy."

"You said I was too big to be carried," she pouted as I held her.

"I'm making an exception," I said, trying to hide how much effort it took. Seeing this, Jacob took our bags out to the Wagoneer.

I carried Ivy out to the car, propped up on my hip, and placed her in the passenger seat. Emily appeared behind me, Ivy's coat in hand.

She kissed Ivy on the cheek, then moved aside to let Sam say goodbye. She turned to me.

"You take care of my niece, you hear?" She teased, pulling me in for a hug. "Take care of her and Ivy will take care of you."

"Who am I going to cook with at four in the morning?" I said, fighting back tears.

"Please honey, if you're lucky you won't have to cook at all this weekend. I, however, have my work cut out for me. Those boys are going to be starving after the fight."

"She's right," Sam smiled, practically pushing his fiancee out of the way so he could hug me as well. "Take it easy for the next few days, try not to break any bones or cry too hard because Jacob will be in Sekiu in a heartbeat."

"I'll try," I assured him, hugging him back just as tightly. "Thank you, Sam, for everything that you've done for me these last couple of weeks. I really, really owe you one."

"We're family," He shook his head. "You don't owe me anything but love."

I smiled, kissing Emily on the cheek and then walking over to the drivers side of the car. I shut the door, noticing Jacob watching from the house, too emotionally exhausted to come any closer, and I waved to him. We'd said our goodbyes earlier, privately, Sam and Emily knew that.

Then I turned up the radio, just enough to keep me awake and keep Ivy asleep, and I drove off towards Sekiu.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N - The timeline of the battle is different in my fanfic. Instead of taking a few hours it occurred Saturday night into early Monday morning. Alice has warned the others that the Volturi is coming, but they have not arrived yet. Her vision has them arriving just after midnight on Monday. The wolves and vampires separate in an attempt to hide their alliance.**

 **Also, Jacob never went on the camping trip with Bella and Edward and he and Bella didn't kiss.**

 **Thanks for reading! xx.**

()()()

 _"Mom, I want you to know_

 _I'm letting everything you taught me guide me home."_

 _\- Palm Reader, The Wonder Years_

()()()

Saturday came and went like, the shoreline filled with rain. Sunday passed the same way. Monday morning I called the school and said neither Ivy nor I were coming in today, and they didn't ask for an explanation - everyone in La Push knew something was coming their way, not many kids attended school that day, either.

Three days had passed and I heard nothing. Three days of sitting around in a cheap motel room with Ivy, meditating and practicing summons and learning how to control her magic. Three days I spent leaning over my cell phone, the room phone, waiting for any kind of news.

For three days, nothing came.

By Monday afternoon I was ready to go back on my own, ready to pack our things and shove Ivy into the Wagoneer and haul ass back to La Push, just to check on everyone. I didn't have to be in the fight, or near the fight, I just needed to know that he was okay, that Emily was okay, that Sam and the rest of his pack and, yes, maybe even Bella Swann, were victorious.

I got nothing

()()()

My salvation came in the form of Ivy.

She was taking a bath and she started screaming, yelling for me to come in. She'd locked herself in there, and I had to nearly break down the door to get to her.

"What? What happened?"

My little sister was surrounded by bubbles, covering her eyes with wrinkly, pruned fingers.

"I think I had a vision."

And, just like that, Ivy was an augury.

It made sense that Ivy came into her powers in the bathtub - Mom went into labor with her during a bath, anyways. She'd always been a water baby.

"What did you see?" I said, anxiously awaiting the answer, part of me knowing it had something to do with Jacob.

"I don't know if it makes sense," she said, shrugging.

"It's okay, it's okay, tell me anyways."

"If you wait another day, the russet wolf will fall."

I reached for the doorframe, trying to hold myself upright. I didn't know who the russet wolf was, only that he was one of mine - Jacob or Sam or another one of the pack members.

"Pack your things," I told her, trying to will myself to breath. "Get out and pack your things. We're leaving, we're going right now."

She looked scared, but did as I told her to. I left the bathroom door open a crack and pulled out my phone, dialing Emily. I'd been too nervous to call any earlier, too worried that I'd dial Jacob while he was in the middle of fighting, that somehow I'd distract one of the wolves. It was nearly eight o'clock though, past sunset, and Emily seemed like a safe bet.

"How are you?" She said urgently, curious to why I had called her.

"Emily, there's things I need to tell you when I get back. But Ivy had a vision, she saw a russet wolf dying. Who's the russet wolf?"

Sighing hard, I could hear Emily's sharp breaths.

"I don't know if I should tell you..."

"Please," I urged her. "I'm coming home anyways."

"The war is over," She confirmed. "But the vampire council, they are coming. It's not safe for you here, Jacob is adamant about that."

"Jacob's the russet wolf, isn't he?"

"Yes," She said, entirely reluctant about it. "Please, Serena, don't come home. Not yet, not so soon."

"The vampires have no idea what I am, what Ivy is. They have no way of knowing. To them, we're just normal sisters coming home from vacation - tell Jacob he's got nothing to worry about. And," I sighed, closing my eyes tightly as I heard Ivy come out of the bathroom. "Tell him not to shift, he can't shift. Something bad will happen if he shifts."

"What's going on, Serena?" She said, her voice thick with confusion.

"Just tell him, please. I'll explain everything when we get back, I promise."

"Okay, I'll tell him."

And then she hung up, leaving Ivy looking at me with confusion.

"What - "

"Just pack, we'll talk about it in the car." I smiled at her, patting her gently on the back, knowing it would be a long and confusing ride home.

()()()

A half hour from home and my phone began to ring, nearly waking up Ivy.

It was Jacob.

"Hi," I said lightly, trying to hide how tired I was.

"You can't come home, Serena." He said, his voice thick with anger, tension.

"Jacob, they don't know who I am, who we are. Unless they find out about your alliance, they're not going into La Push, either. Everything will be fine."

"I can't keep you and Ivy safe from them, it breaks every rule we have. Every vamp in the world would be breathing down my neck, down the pack's. If they attack you two, Sam and I will defend you, and we'll have another war on our hands."

"They won't attack, Jacob." I said, narrowing my eyes and glancing at the bag full of witch stuff. "If they do, I won't let them."

I wondered if it would be possible for me to read and drive at the same time - I needed to brush up on my curses, just in case.

"If they come after you, I swear to God - "

"Jacob!" I said quickly, hearing his anger through the phone. "Listen to me, you cannot shift."

"Yeah, Emily mentioned that." He scoffed. "Why?"

"Ivy came into her powers. She's an augury, like my mother. She can tell the future." I bit my lip. "She had a vision of you, as a wolf, dying in a battle. That's why I'm coming home, because her visions don't always come true, Jacob, and if you don't shift, if I can keep you from shifting for a couple of days until the Volturi go, then you'll live."

"I don't need you to protect me, Serena." He said forcefully, after a moment. "I need you to stay safe."

"Jacob - "

"If I don't know you're safe, if I have the slightest feeling that you're in danger, I won't be able to fight. My only thought will be you, thinking about what could be happening to you, or even to Ivy. You need to be away from the fighting, away from La Push, until I say so."

"Until you say so?" I scoffed, shaking my head, laughing ironically. "I'm not your pet, Jacob. I don't come and go as you tell me to. I love you, I really do, but you don't own me."

"You own me, Serena, that's what the imprint is." There was a crash in the background, and I heard him sigh. "I won't be able to fight with you here. You need to stay where you are, to stay safe. Can you do that?"

I waited, staring at the exit for Forks coming up on the road. I drove past it.

"I can," I nodded. "I love you Jacob, just remember that."

"I love you too."

I hit the end button, turning up the radio to disguise the fact that I was crying. I didn't know how to change Ivy's visions, didn't know how to fix them. Gods, if I came home I might've just caused Jacob to die anyway, maybe that was the future she saw.

Either way, Jacob made it clear he didn't want me there.

So I took the highway and drove 13 straight hours to San Francisco.


	23. Chapter 23

_"Heaven help ya, the girl likes to fight_

 _Afraid of nothing and she carries a knife."_

 _\- Punchin' Bag, Cage the Elephant_

()()()

Ivy slept most of the way, her pretty eyes hidden behind pale lids. Our most important belongings - my credit card and our tools - were in the backseat. It made sense to go here, to go home when we didn't know where else to go. I wasn't running, not permanently, but I was not a possession and I was not a child, I would not be told when to come and go.

Keeping me away from the fight wasn't for my own safety, it was because he was nervous, because he didn't want me there. You didn't see Sam making Emily leave, or any of the other imprints for that matter. I was a witch, not a china doll, and it was time he learned that.

No way was I going to stay alone in Washington, holed up in a motel room, until Jacob decided La Push was safe for me again. If he didn't want me with him, then I'd go where I was wanted - back home, back in San Francisco.

When Ivy did wake up, she didn't question where I was taking her.

"I had a vision of this," She said, almost quietly. "Mom was in it, she says to tell you 'I told you so.'"

"You can tell Mom I hope she rots in hell," I mentioned, gripping the wheel tightly.

"Someone's in a mood," Ivy scoffed, rolling over to face the window, watching the Northern California scenery roll by. "I'm excited to go home."

"Me too," I told her, thinking of the old hotel we could stay in, of the places I could get a job if I needed one.

With Jacob you just didn't know - you could be gone a day or you could be gone a month. He could come get you, track you down and find you, or you could spend your whole life hiding.

It was that way with all shapeshifters. Mom had tried to warn me with all those stories of falling in love with them, then of falling out of love with them, and it was then that I understood why she'd left La Push.

Mom was an imprintee too. She had a wolf boy of her own, one that looked at her like she was the moon and the stars and the entire sky. But he owned her, at least he thought he did, and he learned the hard way that witches were powerful, that they could not be owned or dominated.

Mom had tried to warn me from day one, up until all those weeks ago when I summoned her, and now she was out there somewhere, smoking Marlboros and saying 'I told her it would end this way' to all of her dead friends.

Coming into her powers had made Ivy more mature, somewhat scarily so, and she turned to me with old eyes.

"You know what else I see in our future?"

"What?" I spat, not taking my eyes off the road.

"A bathroom break." She smiled, the first smile I'd seen her crack since last Friday.

It eased the tension, and I found myself laughing as we turned onto a backstreet, finding the local bakery she and I would visit together, running in and asking if we could use their bathroom.

She peed and I brought her a chocolate donut, ordering a latte for myself. My phone rang, and I saw that it was Sam. I ignored it.

Gods, I loved Jacob, I really did. I loved him like he was part of my being, but I couldn't hide behind someone all my life, I wasn't built for that. When he told me he was ready for me to come home, he wanted me to come home, then I would do my best to be there.

But until then, I would enjoy my well-earned freedom. I'd missed the warm weather and the sun, the sound the boardwalk would make when I went for a morning run. I missed being able to turn the corner and find an occult store, or seeing flyers for pagan meetings at local coffee shops. I missed walking Ivy to school in the mornings, surrounded by other kids dressed just as brightly, smiling just as fully.

My phone rang again, this time Emily, and I didn't pick up then, either. Jacob was a big boy - he'd created this mess, he could fix it. Besides, it appeared as if we'd swiftly avoided Ivy's vision - I hadn't felt any pain all day and, seeing as it was well past noon, whatever council was coming had to have left by now.

Jacob was safe, I could feel it, and he could feel that I was safe, too. Sam and Emily were just worried about us, they all must be, but Jacob would have to explain himself why I wasn't home yet.

Sam would probably kill him, Emily would be pissed, and someone's sorry ass would end up in San Francisco, looking all over for me. I wouldn't be found though, not until I wanted to me - the same way no one found Mom until after she wanted to be, until after that flower's poison had spread all through and killed her frail little body.

Ivy came out of the bathroom then, smiling at her donut. She ate it, getting chocolate on her little nose, as we walked towards the beach.

We sat down on the shore, looking like idiots. It was 9 pm, we were sitting on the beach in the darkness eating donuts and drinking coffee, wondering where we were going to sleep tonight. We were tired and lazy, lethargic from driving all night, and grateful to be able to stretch out our legs.

"Are we staying here?" Ivy asked, her big eyes staring up at me.

I sighed, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket again, and nodded my head lightly.

"Yeah, I think we are. For a little bit, at least."

She smiled at me, chucking the rest of her donut to the birds and jumping up, running and soaking her feet in the ocean. I watched her excitedly, a wide smile on her face that was spreading to my own, when I heard footsteps in the sand behind me.

"Holy fucking shit, I go for a walk and this is who I find."

Gods, I groaned. I've been in San Francisco less than an hour and I run into him. Mom definitely had something to do with this.


	24. Chapter 24

"Smoke in the room let it air out, walk around sexy with her hair out

Roamin' New York city with no care bout shit penthouse view so we just starin' out

One more drink won't hurt you, we're just kids with no curfew."

\- No Curfew, Skizzy Mars

()()()

I couldn't tell you how it happened, couldn't explain it except that Ivy and I were alone in San Francisco at 9 o'clock on a Monday night with $50 in our pockets and no where to spend the night. And then there he was, Dan Waters, looking at me like I hung the sun in the sky, asking me if I'd heard that song he'd written for me, asking me what I was doing back here.

I don't know what happened except Ivy ran up and hugged him, and he hugged her back. And then he asked where we were spending the night, if we were spending the night, and I told him the truth.

I didn't have a place to go, so Dan Waters invited us back to his townhouse in the center of San Francisco, three stories high and filled with designer furniture.

"It's a second house," he admitted, blushing. "Primarily, I'm in LA, you just happened to catch me on one of my weeks off."

"Wow," I admitted, looking around at the place. Compared to the Victorian Ivy and I had grown up in, it was big. Compared to the Uley's, it was a mansion. "This is really great. I can't lie, I was really surprised you were so popular."

"You never did listen to my music, Rena." Dan scoffed, shaking his head. "How would you know? You were such an indie girl, almost never listened to the radio."

"You're on the radio?" I said, my mouth gaping.

"Yeah, sometimes," He laughed, nodding towards Ivy. She was asleep on his couch, her little feet curled under her.

"Do you have a bed we can move her to?"

"Of course," He nodded, leaning down to pick her up. He was nowhere near as massive as Jacob was, but he still managed to lift her with ease.

I followed him up to the second story, where there was a guest bedroom with at least a queen sized in there. He laid her in the middle of the bed, careful that she wouldn't fall out.

"When did you get so good with kids?" I blurted out, my brows furrowing. "No offense, but you and her...you never got along."

"I'm older now," He shrugged. "I'm not the brat that I was back then."

I wanted to point out that it was only three months ago - tops - but Dan was already leading me downstairs, producing a bottle of expensive champagne from the kitchen, grabbing orange juice from the fridge.

"You like mimosas, right? I remember."

"I love mimosas," I corrected him, my mouth watering. It'd been so long since I'd had one with good champagne, with good orange juice, for the love of the Gods.

He handed it to me in a long-stemmed glass, the fancy, glass kind, and I smiled at him through my lashes.

"You've done this before, Dan."

"More than once," He winked, pulling a bottle of Jack Daniels off the shelf and drinking it straight, using his own mimosa as a chaser.

I looked at him with disgust, and he only smiled back at me.

I felt my phone vibrate from my pocket and I didn't bother to look, knowing that would be too rude. I was in Dan's house, drinking his alcohol, my little sister was asleep in his room upstairs - he was being nice, I should be, too.

"So, where have you been hiding, Rena?"

"Washington, actually, up by Seattle. My Mom passed, and her younger brother took Ivy and me in."

"What brings you back here, then? Running away?"

"Something like that," I rolled my eyes. "Boy drama."

"Ah, typical Serena - the boys love you, you don't love them." He winked at me, raising his glass. "Here's to the boys that get a second chance, huh?"

Feeling a little twinge in my heart, I smiled, raising my glass as well.

"We'll see about that, Dan Waters."

()()()

Three mimosas later and Jacob's duck coat came off, falling to the floor of the kitchen like a shredded, forgotten skin. I sat across from Dan, drinking and talking and watching him roll a joint, in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.

"I can't remember the last time I got high," I admitted, leaning against the back of the barstool. "Must've been the last time I saw you."

"When you broke my heart, you mean?"

"Yeah," I giggled lightly. "That day."

"I remember it pretty well, I wrote a song about it. A couple songs, actually."

"Do you ever write about happy things?" I slurred, pouting lightly.

"I'll write about tonight, that's a happy thing."

"I wanna hear it!" I said eagerly, drunkenly. "I wanna hear it when it comes out, freestyle it."

"Right now?" Dan groaned, raising an eyebrow. "I'm really fucking faded girl."

"Alright, when it comes on the radio, then. When you write it, and you put it out there, I'll be looking for it."

"It's a deal," He smiled, lighting his newly-rolled joint. "Careful with this, Rena. It's not the shit we used to get, you know? It's better now, stronger."

"I'm a big girl, Dan." I reminded him. He watched me as I took a hit and tried not to flinch, the heavy smoke hitting my lungs all at once. "Gods, this stuff works right off the bat."

"It better, I pay for it to."

We moved to the living room, turning on a Bestie Boys record and slipping off our shoes, taking hits off the shared joint. We sang badly and danced around the room, getting hot and stripping off layer after layer. We got bored and flipped through the TV, watched nothing but bad cartoons for an hour before turning off the TV and turning on the music again, making more mimosas, taking more shots.

We fell asleep around three in the morning, me in my t shirt and my underwear, Dan on the shag carpet beside me in just his jeans, the record spinning but playing no music.

I dreamt about my mother.

I dreamt about her drinking her own mimosa, resting on the edge of the glass coffee table and smoking her cigarette, laughing at Dan and me.

"I told you so," she'd say, over and over again. "I told you it would happen this way."

And I asked her to tell me the story of why she left La Push, the real story this time. I asked her to tell me everything, and she leaned down to look in my eyes. With a light slap to my face, she replied.

"When you've sobered up, baby."


	25. Chapter 25

_"And this house feel like it's haunted_

 _By the ghosts of who we were_

 _You smile like we were strangers riding on the city bus."_

 _\- Heart to Break, Natalia Kills (unreleased)_

()()()

"I'm totally fine." I urged mom, standing up to show her how sober I was. I wobbled slightly, and she narrowed her eyes, but in the end motioned for me to sit beside her.

"I was an imprintee."

"Yeah, I got that much." I groaned, reaching for a drink of her mimosa. "Who was it?"

"He's not important. What's important is that he was no different from the other pack members. He was an animal, harsh and cruel and blunt. It was really hot at first, I'll admit it's what attracted me to him. God Rena, he had this way of looking at me with those dark eyes of his, a way of plucking my cigarette out of my mouth before I was finished and pressing his lips against mine." She paused for a moment, reveling in her memory. A breeze came through an open window, off the ocean, and flowed through her thin robe. "But, but he never let me forget that he owned me."

"Did he know you were a witch?"

"He knew everything. He knew I was a full witch, an augury, even when my family didn't. My mom, your grandmother, she wasn't - it skipped her, for reasons I'll never know for the fact that I never bothered to ask. As soon as I found out I had a maternal grandmother, and one who owned an occult shop, no less, I set out to find her. I must've been thirteen at the time, and already planning my escape."

"You didn't leave until you were nineteen," I reminded her, passing her back her mimosa. She downed it in one swallow.

"Gods, I've missed these. Goes right through me nowadays." She joked, tilting her head back with a smile. "Everything does. But yes, you're right. The same year I found out I was a witch, a wolf imprinted on me. He was big and strong, a couple years older, and it was easy for me to fall for him. He took me under his wing and taught me things - about life, about the wolves, and about myself - that I never would've found out otherwise. And then things went south."

I bit my lip, rising gently from the coffee table, sidestepping Dan's sleeping figure, and moving to the kitchen. I mixed her another mimosa and poured myself a glass of orange juice - it was nearly dawn, and I'd gone well-past my limit for the night.

"What happened, Mom? I have to know."

"I know you do, and, honestly, I wish I had made it clearer sooner. I saw you with Sam, my little brother, and with Jacob and your sister. I knew from the minute you were born that you would end up back there. I tried to warn you, I told you so many stories about them, things I swore I wouldn't talk of again."

"So, the one about the wolf and the pretty girl, all of that was true? Even, even when he got her pregnant?"

"Yeah, that's true." She said, swallowing hard. "I was eighteen, he was twenty-four. He wanted to settle down, to get married, he wanted me to forget everything I knew about my grandmother, about being a witch, and just become his wife, just become your mother. You know I couldn't do that, Rena."

I nodded. It would be no easier for her to give up her life as a witch than it would be for me to give up mine. Still, had Jacob asked, I wondered what I would've done.

"Until then, I knew nothing about the craft. I was like Ivy - I had powers, but I could barely control them. My grandmother was the only one I knew who could help, who knew what she was doing. She lived here, in San Francisco, and I convinced my wolf to let me go visit her - alone. I told him I just needed to figure out who I was, how I got to be this way. So, reluctantly, he let me go. He made me promise I'd come back first, swear on it, and then we said our goodbyes."

"Why didn't you come back?"

"Because I met your great-grandmother, this old, wise, powerful woman who let no one define her, let no one dominate her, and I wanted that so badly for myself - for you, too. She taught me all about myself, about witchcraft and everything that it had to offer, and when she was finished, I didn't want to leave. Knowing I was an augury, knowing so much flowed through me, I was in no way ready to return to La Push and submit myself to being a housewife, to what my wolf wanted me to be." She put a hand over my own. "She told me my mother was a witch, too, only she never came into her powers. She met a boy who was down in San Francisco on Spring Break, a Quileute member, and ran off with him. Any powers she had, she let them fade away after that."

"I know I've never met my grandmother, but my great-grandmother, was she around?"

"I moved in with her after I left my wolf. I didn't write him, didn't leave him a phone call or any of that - I just, broke ties altogether. He was the only one who knew about you, but I'm not sure what he told the rest of the pack. I never saw a wolf again, not after that. I'm sure he was watching, though, staying hidden. Imprints have a hard time staying away for long, that's something you should remember." She said, tilting her glass towards me to make her point. "Your grandmother helped me raise you, took care of you while I worked long, hard hours. I earned some money on the side as a psychic - something she didn't approve of, but she understood. She died when you were young, just a year or two old, and I took a year off from waitressing, focused on my abilities, and tried to raise you as she would've wanted.

"I knew what would happen though, Rena. I knew you would end up back there with the wolves. Your father, and my parents, they aren't around anymore - they passed on nearly a decade ago - but Sam was still there, still thriving. I knew what would happen to me, I knew you would meet Jacob, and he would imprint. I tried everything I could to stop it, but it was unavoidable - fate's shitty like that, sometimes. So, it's up to you now. You and Ivy. You have to make your choice."

"Jacob would never ask me to chose between witchcraft and him." I said, my brows furrowing.

"You're right, he might not. Augury's can't see everything, you know, and all wolves are not identical, not like my wolf. But, if he does, you have to know what your answer is going to be."

I stared at the ground, the perfect, marble tiles gracing the kitchen floor. How easy would it be to stay here, to live a comfortable life with Dan - drinking mimosas all the time, going to all the best parties, being a plus one at award shows? Ivy would get into all the best schools, I'd be able to send her to private school, and then college.

There was so much temptation in front of me - Dan and his money and the life he offered, or Jacob and his love? Dan would never, ever ask to dominate me - but Jacob, Jacob I wasn't so sure.

I turned to my mother.

"I need to pray," I said to no one - she had already faded out, setting off with the wind.

I took the needle off the record and turned out the lights, heading upstairs to the guest room where Ivy was.

I needed guidance, not more questions.


	26. Chapter 26

_"Lets just let the time pass_

 _Charge your drink to my tab_

 _And tell lil mama she can spend the night._

 _I'm just tryina live the life_

 _Hope and pray we get it right._

 _Reflect, our stories endearing_

 _Get that nostalgic feeling"_

 _\- Cheers, Skizzy Mars_

()()()

I crawled up into the bed beside Ivy, who was already half awake, and kissed her gently on the nose.

"Ivy," I said gently. "Tell me what to do, tell me what will make you happy."

She groaned, rolling over in the bed. Dan would give me security, Jacob would give me happiness, and neither would end with me alone on the streets, probably working as a psychic like my mother. Whichever boy I chose, they had to make Ivy happy - that was my only requirement.

"Mom says stick with Dan," She said gently. "I can hear her now, you know. Sometimes she pops up in my head."

Great, Mom talked to Ivy more when she was dead than when she was alive.

"What do you think I should do, Ives?" I pestered. "We could turn around right now, go back to Jacob and La Push, or we could stay here, put you back at your old school, and try and find a place."

"Well, I am an augury." She reminded me, very proud of that. "Give me your hand, and I'll tell you what happens."

I rolled my eyes, not so eager to see my future laid out for me again, and gave her my hand.

"I see - "

And then there was a knock on the door.

"Girls?" Dan called out. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," I hollered back, shrugging at Ivy.

"I've got to head down to LA to work on some stuff, but I wanted to tell you that you and Ivy can stay for as long as you need."

"Seriously?" I said, my mouth hanging agape.

"Yeah, I trust you guys. There's keys on the table, I'll only be gone for a week or so." He shrugged. "Take me up on the offer, Rena. I mean, where else are you gonna go?"

I crossed the room, smiling and moving to hug him tightly.

"Thank you so much, Dan, this means a lot."

"Of course," He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He nodded at Ivy before exiting the room.

"That," Ivy said, nodding her head towards where Dan had stood. "Is the only future I saw. Sorry."

()()()

Undecided and nervous, we brought ourselves time by staying at Dan's house. We worked on magic, going to every occult shop in the area trying to find something that would help Ivy use her powers. We never did pull anything, half of them were frauds anyway, but Ivy seemed to be figuring out being an augury on her own.

She always was a smart kid.

Meanwhile, I ignored every phone call from La Push, especially ones from Jacob. He never bothered to leave a voicemail, which just made it easier.

Emily did, though. She'd call about once a night, leaving reports on the pack, especially on Jacob. She never sounded angry or upset, if anything she understood the struggles that an imprint went through. She saw my side of it, which was even more surprising because she could also see Jacob suffering.

She spoke of his depression, of shifting uncontrollably, of his anger taking over him. She said he'd take long walks in the forest constantly, he'd barely touch food anymore, and he avoided the rest of the pack like the plague. Especially when imprints were present.

She presented the facts like a doctor would, not intending to make me upset or mad or push me to return.

Emily called every night, and I had only been in San Francisco four days.

The house was huge, even more so without Dan there. Ivy and I spent our days running around it in our socks and pajamas, slipping across polished floors like in Risky Business. We watched old movies, we danced to vintage records, and I never went to sleep in Dan's massive, king-sized bed without a nightcap - even though the mimosas were never as good as that first night.

It was like a game, waking up every day and stumbling around the house half asleep, spending entire afternoons lounging on the beach in borrowed bikinis, and then taking the nights to practice our magic. Ivy was learning quickly as an augury, even without help, and I was learning more curses, more potions, and more effective ways to reach the dead.

At the end of every night, around midnight, Ivy would retire to bed, exhausted, and I would curl up in Dan's bed, pulling the white sheets up to my chin, dressed in one of his old Run MCDC t shirts, and listen to my voicemail.

Emily would say she missed me. Emily would say the pack is lost without me, its' two leaders confused and disoriented. Emily would say Jacob is a walking tornado these days, full of anger and ready to shake his fists at anything that looked at him wrong. Emily would say Sam cries at night, but he is not angry like Jacob is - he understands, too. Emily would say she is worried about Ivy, but she knows that I'll take care of her. Emily would say she misses me, misses having someone to cook with in the mornings, and that she hopes I am eating.

Then she would say goodnight.

I hadn't heard from Dan since that first night, since he left for LA, and I was sure anything that I'd imagined between us was done and over with. He was doing me a favor because I was an old friend with a kid and nowhere else to go, he'd come home and he'd expect to see me gone.

I didn't sleep that night, only dried the tears off my face and moved around the house like a zombie, picking up everything that Ivy and I had made a mess of these last few days. This trip was amazing, a whirlwind, but it was just that - a trip. We had to go back eventually - Sam was Ivy's legal guardian and we couldn't stay hidden in San Francisco forever, living off my rich ex-boyfriend.

I woke her up around three o'clock on Sunday morning, telling her it was time to go home.

"They'll be happy to see us," She said, nodding as I passed her a bagel, told her to eat it in the car.

Reluctantly, I made one for myself - I'd spent the last five days living off coffee and mimosas, giving whatever food was in the house to Ivy, too lazy to go grocery shopping, too tired to go out to eat.

We walked out to the car and I realized I still had the house key on my keyring, and I unlocked the car for Ivy.

"I'll be right back," I said, holding up the ring to show her my purpose.

She nodded, and I returned to the house alone. I left the key on a table in the hall and moved to the kitchen, grabbing a pen and a napkin.

 _Dan,_

 _I owe you, big time._

 _\- Serena_

 _PS - I'll be looking for that song._

As a final thought, I grabbed a bottle of champagne from the shelf - Dan had so many, he wouldn't miss one. And then I left San Francisco, for what Ivy predicted was the last time.

()()()

The drive home reminded me of the drive to La Push, maybe a month ago now, where I had been so nervous and so optimistic. Where Ivy had slept beside me, quiet and unsure.

This ride was different.

I turned off the CD that had been playing since we entered Oregon, an indie album I'd brought from San Francisco sometime last year, and hit the RADIO button.

Ivy jerked up, reaching for the stereo, and fiddled with it, trying to find a certain station.

Finally, she stopped.

"Brand new, fresh out of the studio from Dan Waters, is this new hit."

"This," Ivy said, smiling at me. "This is the song me promised you."

And I smiled, reaching to hold her hand as we entered Washington.

()()()

 **A/N - The song Dan wrote for Serena is called Cheers and is really by Skizzy Mars, if you're curious. Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! xx.**


	27. Chapter 27

_"Someday my pain will mark you."_

 _\- The Wolves, Bon Iver_

()()()

The Wagoneer pulled up to the house around 5 o'clock, arriving around dinner time.

Sam was the first to notice the familiar sound, rushing out to meet us. He was followed by Emily, who reached for Ivy and me with tears in her eyes, but a smile on her face.

"Don't be upset," I told her. "I just needed a vacation, that's all. I got your voicemails, every single one of them."

Surprisingly, we didn't get a lecture from our adopted parents for taking off, they welcomed us back and led both of us to the dinner table, Emily scolding me for being too skinny.

"Speaking of, we're celebrating tonight." I smiled, producing a bottle of champagne from my bag and offering it to Emily. "I've perfected the art of the mimosa while I was gone."

The dinner table was filled with the pack, still living off Emily's comfort foods, her nervous cooking. They sat in a circle, enormous portions in front of them. They looked at the label on the champagne, whistling low, and Emily gave me a knowing smile. It didn't take her long to figure out where I'd spent the last few days.

Ivy snuggled right on up to Sam, sitting in his lap and eating right off his plate. She was home, and she knew it. As for Emily, she pulled my hand and tugged me into the kitchen.

"You and I, we need to have a serious talk." She waggled her finger at me. "I'm honestly plain confused. Jacob was saying something about an agriculture program - I think - and I'd like to know where you got your hands on a $5,000 bottle of champagne."

"I know, and I promise I'll tell you everything as soon as I can. But first, where's Jacob?" I said, biting my lip nervously.

He had to be pissed, I knew he'd be pissed, but I was curious as to why he wasn't at the pack dinner.

"He's probably out in the woods, honestly. That's where he's spent most of his time these days." She shook her head. "I know he's still getting the pack's thoughts, their messages, but he's most likely blocking them out."

I nodded anxiously. I wanted to see him, I needed to see him. I needed to apologize and tell him my reasons for leaving, to tell him how much he meant to me.

"I can tell you're anxious, but please, eat something. Have you been living off Mimosas this whole time?"

"Pretty much," I smiled, laughing lightly.

I turned to go back to the dining room, to snag some food from the boys, and ran straight into a familiar wall.

"Jacob," I breathed in as his arms wrapped around me, blocking out the rest of the world. "God, I missed you."

He wasn't happy, I could feel the anger radiating off him, but underneath that was relief - he was glad we were safe, glad we were home, and glad I was back in his arms.

"I can assure you, I missed you more." He pulled away, grasping my face between his hands. "I want to know why you left, Rena. I want you to tell me everything that happened."

I could hear the silence, the rest of the pack had stopped eating to listen, and I grabbed Jacob's hand, pulling him towards my room, and then to the back porch.

I shut the door behind him.

"Where the fuck did you go, huh?" He said, gripping my face tightly, pulling my lips to his harshly, desperately. When he was done, he pulled back and rested his forehead against mine, repeating his question. "Where did you go?"

"San Francisco," I said quickly, trying to catch to breath he'd taken from me. "We went to San Francisco."

"To see him?" Jacob said, his words biting, his body shaking. I didn't have to ask who him was - there was only one person I knew capable of producing a bottle of champagne that expensive.

"It didn't work that way, Jacob. I went there to go home, to see if I could find anyone willing to help Ivy with her powers. I didn't go there looking for Dan, he found us." I shut my eyes, knowing how the words hurt him. "We needed someplace to stay, and he was offering."

"What happened? Did he touch you?" Jacob was pure animal at this point, growling, practically foaming at the mouth.

"No, nothing happened. He stayed one night with us, then he went back to LA. We stayed in his townhouse, just Ivy and me." I reached a hand up, daring to stroke his face. Reluctantly, he leaned into it. "There was no one else, Jacob."

He waited a moment, reveling in the silence, enjoying that I was in his arms.

"I wish I could believe you," He finally said, hands firm on my hips.

"What can I do to make you believe me?" I said, my voice thin and desperate now.

"Never leave me, never again." He said, lowering his lips to my neck and leaving bite marks there, so similar to the vampires that had torn us apart to begin with. "Promise me."

"I - " I gasped, hands wrapped tight around Jacob's neck, my heart in my throat.

It was a promise I couldn't make. His lips still connected to my neck, I spoke up.

"I'm not going to promise you that, Jacob. I can't, I'm so, so sorry." I said, tears beginning to sting at my eyes. "You're asking too much."

He growled then, like a wounded animal waiting on a bullet to the head, a mercy killing. He pulled back to me and he tried, desperately, not to shift. I reached for him, a stupid move on my part, and winced as he literally threw me back.

"Jacob," I said, my voice weaker than I wish it had been.

In the end, I think that was what broke him.

I watched as his back arched, his body contorting. I watched as hair sprouted from all of his pores, as he growled and howled and avoided looking me in the eye. I watched as his cries of pain turned into animalistic, inhuman noises. I watched him shift.

There was banging on the door then, the sound of an entire pack rushing out to us.

"Serena, what's going on?" Sam shouted, leading the other boys.

Jacob looked at me once more, snarling, before taking off into the woods.

Feeling utterly overwhelmed and entirely exhausted, I let my head drop back against the icy pavement and succumbed to sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

_"I watched the veins under my skin_

 _Moving, changing from blue to red_

 _Those colors battle to repent_

 _Fighting some kind of punishment_

 _For loving you."_

 _\- Color of Blood, Chelsea Wolfe_

 _()()()_

I woke up with Sam on one side of me and Emily on the other. The entire wolf pack surrounded the couch, minus a few boys, and Ivy rested by my feet.

I smiled, lightly. Mom's vision had come true, Jacob had hurt one of us, but at least it wasn't Ivy.

"Oh, thank God." Emily moaned, pulling me in for a hug, wrapping her arms around me. "I was so scared, Serena. We all were."

"I knew you would wake up," Ivy said, smiling widely.

"Ivy," I scolded her, shooting her a look.

"It's okay," Sam sighed. "We know, she told us. She had to, Ivy was insisting we not take you to a hospital, we put all of our trust into some concoction she mixed together from a bunch of forest plants. But it worked."

"Smart girl," I winked at her. I reached out a hand to grab hers, looking at my wrist as I did.

Four long claw marks laced their way down and around them, similar to the ones that graced Emily's face. God, it looked like a snake tattoo gone wrong, four times over.

The rest of the pack followed my gaze.

"He didn't mean to, Serena. He really didn't." Sam said, looking at Emily with a similar pain in his eyes.

"It was my fault," I shook my head. "I reached for him when I shouldn't have, when I should've known better. Please, Sam, if he'll listen to you, I need you to tell him that."

"We're all trying," Said one of the boys. "Seth and Embry are out there right now, trying to talk to him."

Sam nodded, acknowledging that this was true.

"How are you feeling?" Emily said, brushing some hair out of my face. "You hit your head pretty hard."

"I haven't eaten in a while, I'm exhausted," I admitted.

"I'll go make you a plate while you relax," Emily smiled, patting me on the shoulder.

"God," I groaned, looking at Sam. "One day back and I'm already causing drama. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Rena. This is your home, if you want it to be. You're always welcome here. Jacob, he really cares about you. He needs to learn how to control himself. We all need a lesson in that, sometimes."

Looking at Emily's face, I could tell I had likely gotten off lucky - at least my scars could be hidden.

With Ivy's help, I rose from the couch and crossed to the bedroom. Thanks to her potion, I was healing quickly, the scars already scabbing over nicely, and I wasn't feeling any pain. I pulled on a sweatshirt and pulled back my hair before curling up in my bed, urging Ivy to do the same.

I would never admit it, but the harsh creaking of the twin mattress made me miss Dan's bed in San Francisco. Still, exhaustion overcame me fairly easily and I'd fallen asleep before Emily had even come in with food, before Ivy had finished her nighttime prayer, and before the lights were turned out.

()()()

I wasn't asleep for long when a familiar warmth spread through my body.

The back door swung open and shut, and I heard it lock before a long, hard body crawled in beside mine.

"Jacob," I breathed out, feeling him reach for my face, cupping it in his hands.

"I hurt you," He said, his voice faltering. "Show me where I hurt you."

"I'm fine, Jacob." I told him, my eyes practically glued shut. I could feel his hot breath in my ear, on my neck, as he checked me over for visible damage. "Shh, go to sleep."

"I could feel the skin ripping through my fingers, Rena. When I ran off, I could see it in the others thoughts. I hurt you, tell me where. Show me where."

"It doesn't matter," I urged, reaching to stop his hands from covering every inch of my body in his search for scratches. I pulled them up to my mouth, kissing both of his palms. "It doesn't matter to me, Jacob."

It really didn't matter. He hadn't done it on purpose, nor was it irreversible damage, and I was grateful it hadn't been done to Ivy, like in my dream.

It seemed all of Mom's visions were coming true, only they were warped and wrong, changed somehow by fate. I was grateful that, this one at least, had been changed for the better.

I had made the choice to be with Jacob, to stay in La Push, and there was no reason Ivy should'v been scarred - emotionally or physically - for my decisions.

"You did nothing wrong," I reminded him. "Please, stop looking."

"Are you worried of what I'll find?" He sighed, lifting up my sweatshirt and looking for any scars.

I sucked in a breath, grateful he hadn't gotten to my sleeves yet. I pinched my eyes shut as he lifted my arms into the air, slipping the sweatshirt up over my head.

Laying beside him my favorite lace bra was a lot less sexy than I imagined it would be, under these circumstances at least.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Jacob said, gasping loudly.

i had to admit, the scars weren't pretty. They were long and purple and bloating lightly - they were deep. But, I knew they were nothing that couldn't be covered by bracelets, hidden with long sleeves. Unlike Emily's scars, Jacob wouldn't have to look at this reminder for the rest of his life. For that much I was grateful.

"It's okay, it's okay." I repeated, yanking my arm away from his eyes. Ignoring the sharp pain it gave me, I hid it under my body.

"Can you forgive me?"

"What? Jacob, you didn't do this on purpose. There's nothing for me to forgive you for, I was standing too close, pushing too hard."

"You can't possibly blame yourself for this." He rolled his eyes, trying not to snort loudly.

I bit my lip - I blamed myself for all of it. Sometimes, I wondered what would have happened if Ivy and I had never come here, but it was too late to find out.

"There are a thousand different ways this could've gone, Jacob. A thousand decisions you could've made, or I could've made, to avoid this. But we don't move backwards in this world, Jacob. We have to keep going on, keep existing." I pulled his face closer to mine, kissing him gently. "Nothing, not this whole San Francisco thing, or what happened tonight, has changed the way I feel about you."

"Maybe it should." Jacob said, locking his jaw firmly, pulling away from me. "I could hurt you, I already have. Fuck, Serena, I could kill you."

"You'll stop yourself." I said, correcting him gently. "i trust you, Jacob."

"I don't think you should. I'm dangerous."

"Of course you are, wolf boy." I joked. "But so am I."

He groaned, burying his head in my neck.

"You're mine, witchy woman."

"No, Jacob." I said sternly, correcting him. "I'm not anyone's, you understand?"

Slowly, his eyes widened, his mouth gaping wide.

"That's what got you so upset? I told you never to leave me?" Slowly, I nodded. "Fuck, Rena, I don't mean it like that. If you want to leave me, take off with this Dan guy, it's going to break my heart. It's literally going to fucking shatter me, alright? But if it's what you want, I'm willing to let you go. All I ask is that you call me once in a while, let me know you're all alright. I don't want you to pull another stunt like this again, where you just take off and don't tell anyone and no one knows if you're alive or dead or hurt or what. You're too important to me, Serena, you should know that by now."

"You're important to me, too." I smiled, kissing him firmly.

Somehow, those words seemed more important than 'I love you.'


	29. Chapter 29

**a/n - Warning for some pretty descriptive sex in this chapter - I apologize in advance if it's not written well or you don't like it. The song that comes on during sex is Kassidat El Hakka by Sexwitch, which I thought was fitting because it's Serena's favorite band. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

()()()

 _"She is death_

 _In a cool black dress_

 _She rides_

 _In the night of your mind."_

 _\- She Rides, Danzig_

()()()

I woke up to silence, to nothing but the even breaths of Jacob beside me. I laid there for a moment, enjoying the silence, and then I moved to make coffee - it was the least I could do for everyone, after this last week.

Jacob's arms tightened around me, however, and I realized he wasn't asleep after all.

"No," He moaned. "I want to keep you."

"Sam's going to throw a fit," i warned him, although I didn't want to move myself.

"It's monday," He reminded me. "Sam went to work, and Emily took Ivy back to school. She called in sick for you, said you were taking another day off to recover."

"The school's going to love me," I laughed. "I'm the subsitute and I'm taking a week off."

"They'll understand," He reminded me, nuzzling his face into my neck, kissing it gently.

"I've missed you, Jacob," I moaned, leaning into him, pressing myself against his crotch. "I've missed you a lot."

He growled, not in the frightening, animalistic way of last night - but in a way that excited me. I found my way to his lips, realizing that I was craving them, and nibbled gently.

I kicked my leg over, moving to straddle him, and placed my hands on his chest. Reluctantly, he ripped off my sweatshirt, stopping a moment to stare at the claw marks in the daylight.

They weren't pretty, but they were healing nicely. There would always be a scar, one neither Jacob nor I would like to talk about, but it was there now, there was no going back. His eyes darkened.

"Stop," I said, pulling his eyes up to meet mine. "Look at me."

He did as he was told. I lifted my arms, allowing him to pull off my tank top, and guided one of his large hands to my breasts. He looked on lovingly as he fondled one, calloused fingers playing with the tender nipple. I lowered myself, allowing him to bring his lips to each breast, sucking hard.

When he was finished, I yanked off his own shirt, tracing my finger down his defined abdomen. God, he was like a model. I felt inadequate, but I was determined not to show it - instead I smiled, nipping at the tender skin just above the waist of his boxers.

"I want you to fuck me, Jacob." I told him, my eyes gleaming wildly.

"I can do that," He said breathlessly, helping me to get him out of his pants.

From the way he looked at me I could tell he was a virgin. It took everything in me to honor that, to not completely take over. I did allow myself the pleasure of being on top, however.

Biting my lip, I guided his member into me. It was even larger than I imagined - and, considering his size, I imagined it being pretty big. I let out a moan and felt him grow harder, my own wetness allowing him to enter easily.

"Jacob," I moaned, grabbing onto the headboard. "Oh, Gods."

Slowly, deliberately, I began to rock my hips back and forth on top of him.

"Do you want to turn on music or something?"

"Music?" I said, my brows furrowing as I stopped moving. "Did you want music?"

"I always imagined there would be music," He said, blushing slightly.

I chuckled, wanting to make this as best for him as I could, and reached to turn on the radio beside the bed. With the static-y hum of my old Sexwitch CD, we continued.

"Is this good enough?" I muttered, gripping tightly onto the headboard once more.

"Yeah," He nodded vigorously, my hips moving faster and faster, in time to the beat.

Jacob grabbed on to my hips, throwing his head back in ecstasy.

"Anything else I can do for you?" I added breathlessly, unable to hide the smile on my face.

"Nope, this is perfect." He breathed out between groans, tightening his grip enough to leave bruises.

Within a few minutes, he'd climaxed - for his first time, he'd lasted pretty long. Soon enough, my hand slapping against the headboard, I followed.

I leaned down on his chest, laying my ear against his pec, and listened to his rapid heartbeat, enjoying the warmth.

"Gods," I said, a few minutes later. "Was it as good as you imagined?"

"Definitely," He grinned, leaning down and biting at my ear. "Rena, you've not a virgin, are you?"

"What tipped you off?" I teased, giggling a little as I got off the bed, pulling the covers around me. "I'm going to go make us breakfast, Jacob. I've missed doing that."

"I've missed that too," He added, nodding his head in agreement.

"And then," I smiled, watching as his eyes lit up. "And then we can go for a second round."


	30. Epilogue

_"You belong among the wildflowers_

 _You belong somewhere close to me_

 _Far away from your trouble and worry_

 _You belong somewhere you feel free."_

 _-Wildflowers, Tom Petty_

()()()

Ivy finished her morning meditations and hurried in from the woods outback - this time, a different set of woods than were at Sam and Emily's house. She hurried up to me, wrapping her arms around me tightly, and smiling up at me.

"I talked to mom."

"Did you now?" I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't heard from Mom in almost a year, not since I left San Francisco. "What did she say?"

"Nothing for you," Ivy said, making me scoff. "Well, that's not entirely true. She says she loves you."

"That's a relief," I snorted, handing her a plate to fill up with pancakes. "Hurry up and make your breakfast before Jacob gets home from patrols."

Ivy nodded, knowing how quickly Jacob could scarf down a stack of pancakes. I poured myself a cup of coffee and smiled, looking around the little outdated kitchen. It wasn't much, but it was mine - the whole house was.

It wasn't green, either - it was white with brown shutters and a garage for the Wagoneer. Jacob liked to pretend he lived here, too, but legally he was stuck with his father for another year. It was easy for us to pretend when he kept most of his clothes here, when he showed up for breakfast and lunch and dinner and essentially anytime in between. When he didn't run patrols, he stayed the night.

Ivy adored it because, for the first time in her life, she had a Dad around. Jacob wasn't always the greatest, he was still a kid himself - we both were - but he did the best he could. He finished school early as well, getting his degree and getting a job at the same gym where Sam worked. He took care of her, and in return Ivy gave him all the love she could.

Luckily for me, the old secretary at Quileute Tribal School had decided to stay home with her children, and the position was offered to me. I took it, and the benefits, the first chance I got.

For the first few months after my return, I felt like Mom had given me all her good graces - things fell into place quickly, and easily, and my 18th birthday was greeted with excitement. Sam and Emily let Jacob take me out again, this time to a nicer restaurant than Waffle House, and he'd surprised me with the house.

It was falling apart then, but it had potential. He said he was going to fix it up for me, if I wanted it - and, like all broken things, of course I did. He'd even created a little bedroom down the hall from mine that was to be Ivy's. He painted it the brightest shade of yellow and hung up glow in the dark stars. He ripped out the closet doors and her up a meditation space in the little alcove, complete with battery-operated candles.

My own room was similar to the sunroom that had been at the Uleys - bright and full of windows. I loved the natural light, and Jacob loved the way I looked in the natural light, mounted on top of him, head leaned back in the sunlight. Neither of us had ever felt closer to nature, or to our true nature.

Jacob kept close to the pack, and to Sam, for my sake more than his. Lately, he'd been against some of the pack's decisions, but I wasn't going to take any sort of stand. I was not born on the tribal land, I had no reason to defend it. For Ivy's sake, and for my own, my only wish was that we didn't anger the Cullens in any way.

If they were to find out what I was, what Ivy was, there would undoubtably be a war. Vampires and werewolves might be able to unite, but vampires and witches were an entirely different matter - as best as I knew, most vampires assumed we were extinct by now, the only living ones being frauds.

So Ivy and I laid low, Jacob and Sam kept away from the vampires at our demand, and our names were never mentioned. Jacob assured me that he would do anything to protect Ivy and me, but I prayed it wouldn't come to that.

I watched as his friendship with Bella ended. They drifted apart from each other, separated by weddings and honeymoons and, eventually, the border surrounding La Push. Jacob got word that she had become a vampire and could no longer come on tribal land. I told him to go to her, if he needed to, but he shook his head.

He hadn't seen her since the war. He had not attended her wedding, nor seen her off to her honeymoon. Charlie said she and Edward adopted some kid, and only the wolves knew better than to believe him. Jacob assured me that Ivy and I were the only important parts of his life now - that's what imprinting was, finding your purpose in another person - and that Bella was not the same girl who he was once friends with.

I had never met the girl, but the thought of my Jacob going near a vampire on purpose made me shiver.

So we went on alone, Jacob and Ivy and me, in this quiet house on the edge of La Push. I taught Ivy witch things and Jacob taught us werewolf things, and we figured out other things - like 7th grade Algebra - together. Life went on as normal for a little witch, a wolf boy, and his witchy woman - but normalcy, just like magic, was relative.

()()()

 **A/N - This is where I'm ending the story for now, and I do not plan on a sequel. Thank you so much to everyone who read and stuck with this story, I really hope you all enjoyed it! xx.**


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